Bucknell University

Bucknell University has become moderately more selective as its standing has improved, placing 29th in the 2027 US News Liberal Arts Colleges ranking. For the entering class of 2025, the university admitted 28.9% of applicants. This acceptance rate is higher than 73% of peer schools in a comparison group of 30 private liberal arts colleges with similar rankings, pointing to an admission process that is slightly more accessible than at many similarly ranked institutions. When offered admission, roughly a third of accepted applicants enroll, reflected in a 30.1% yield rate. Because fewer than a third of admitted students enroll, Bucknell faces ongoing competition from other top liberal arts institutions and national universities to secure its incoming class. For prospective applicants, these figures mean that gaining admission remains competitive, but students with solid academic profiles have realistic admission prospects compared to schools with single-digit acceptance rates.

Applicants to Bucknell University generally need strong standardized test results and high school grades to remain competitive. For the entering class of 2025, the median SAT score among enrolled students was 1400. In a comparison group of private liberal arts colleges with similar rankings, this median was higher than 21% of peer schools, indicating that Bucknell sits slightly below the peer median for testing benchmarks. For students presenting ACT results, the middle 50% composite score range spanned 30 to 33. Beyond standardized testing, academic performance in secondary school remains critical, as the large majority of admitted students compile academic records dominated by top grades. Prospective applicants targeting Bucknell should aim for credentials aligned with these middle ranges alongside demanding high school coursework to support a competitive application.

Bucknell University balances traditional liberal arts studies with professional programs, awarding 906 bachelor degrees in 2025. Degree awards show moderate dispersion across disciplines, with the top three majors accounting for 25.1% of all undergraduate degrees. These leading programs are Economics, Financial Analytics, and Psychology. In the 2027 US News program rankings, undergraduate Psychology ranked 83rd nationally, representing the university's only undergraduate major ranked inside the top one hundred. Career outcomes show that technical and business fields yield the highest early compensation. According to 2023 earnings data, graduates in Computer Engineering achieved median earnings of $97,180 one year after graduation, while Accounting and Related Services graduates also posted high starting pay. Prospective students will find that while enrollment is heavily drawn to social sciences and analytics, the university's specialized engineering offerings generate the strongest immediate returns in the job market.

The student body at Bucknell University is predominantly undergraduate and domestic. Total enrollment reached 3,969 students in 2025, with graduate students representing a tiny segment of just 49 individuals. The undergraduate population is primarily composed of domestic white students, who form the broad majority across all class years. In the entering first-year class, international students numbered 41, representing a small portion of new arrivals. Asian students in the first-year cohort numbered 38, reflecting similar representation. Across the continuing undergraduate classes, Asian and international students continue to make up modest shares of the student population. Graduate enrollment is distinct in its composition, as international scholars comprise roughly half of that small community. For prospective students, these demographics mean campus social and academic life is overwhelmingly shaped by traditional four-year undergraduate students, with international and Asian students forming relatively small campus communities.

Undergraduate life at Bucknell is centered almost entirely on students of traditional college age. In 2025, students aged 18 to 19 accounted for 46.9% of the undergraduate student body. The vast majority of remaining undergraduates fall into the adjacent group in their early twenties, with only a tiny fraction of older undergraduates and a graduate cohort of 49 students. This concentration creates a uniform campus environment where residential life, student activities, and academic pacing are tailored specifically to young adults progressing directly through a four-year degree program.

International students represent a small portion of the undergraduate population at Bucknell University, while occupying a much larger role within the university's small graduate division. In 2025, international undergraduates comprised 4.6% of the undergraduate student body. Compared to a peer group of private liberal arts colleges with similar rankings, this share is higher than 10% of peer schools, well below the peer median. In contrast, the graduate division has trended in the opposite direction, with international enrollment climbing to 44.9% of graduate students. Among 2025 graduates, international students earned 3.9% of bachelor degrees, with degree recipients spread across majors like Mechanical Engineering and Economics. In advanced degree programs, international scholars accounted for nearly a third of master's degrees awarded. For prospective international undergraduates, these figures indicate that international students are a distinct minority on campus, meaning applicants should expect an environment dominated by domestic students across major academic and residential settings.

Applicants exploring colleges near Bucknell University have several options within central and eastern Pennsylvania across different institution types. Located 52.4 kilometers away, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus is a large public institution ranked 55th among National Universities in the 2027 rankings. For students seeking another liberal arts setting, Dickinson College lies 54.5 kilometers away and is ranked 54th among Liberal Arts Colleges. Further south, Franklin and Marshall College sits 69.3 kilometers from campus and holds the 34th position in the same liberal arts category. To the east, Lafayette College is situated 89.2 kilometers away with a 2027 liberal arts ranking of 30th, offering a close peer comparison.

Campus safety at Bucknell University has improved over the past decade, reflected in a notable decline in overall safety incidents. Forward Pathway's weighted crime rate per 1,000 students dropped to 29.3 in 2025, down significantly from earlier years. The large majority of recorded incidents on campus involve internal policy infractions rather than violent crimes. Over the three-year period from 2023 to 2025, disciplinary referrals for liquor law violations totaled 1,085, making alcohol enforcement by far the most frequent issue handled by campus authorities. During the same period, disciplinary referrals for drug violations reached 133. Serious offenses were reported in much smaller numbers over those years, including rape and dating violence. For families evaluating campus safety, these patterns demonstrate that institutional security efforts are primarily engaged in addressing campus conduct and alcohol-related infractions rather than responding to widespread violent crime.