Gettysburg College

Gettysburg College is relatively selective, placing 54th in the 2027 U.S. News National Liberal Arts Colleges ranking after climbing from 63rd in 2024. Gaining admission requires navigating an increasingly competitive applicant pool. In 2025, the college accepted 38.9% of applicants, an admit rate that was higher than 30% of similar private liberal arts colleges. This demonstrates a more selective admissions process than many of its institutional peers. At the same time, drawing admitted applicants remains a hurdle. The college recorded an enrollment yield rate of 15.6% in 2025, indicating that only about one in six accepted students ultimately chose to enroll. For prospective applicants, these figures mean that while the college denies the majority of applicants, admitted students frequently hold and select competing offers, making Gettysburg an institution where strong academic credentials are essential for securing an offer of admission.

Gettysburg College operates under an admissions policy where standardized test scores are optional, considered if submitted. For the 2025 entering class, enrolled students who submitted scores achieved a middle 50% range of 640 to 720 on SAT Reading and 630 to 740 on SAT Math. In comparison with its peer group of similarly ranked private liberal arts colleges for 2025, the college's median SAT score of 1370 is higher than 54% of peer schools. Test submission is far from universal, as only a minority of enrolling students opted to submit SAT or ACT results in 2025. These published ranges provide prospective applicants with a practical benchmark of the academic standing demonstrated by test-submitting students, helping families gauge where an applicant's academic profile falls within the enrolled cohort.

Academic degrees at Gettysburg College are widely distributed across disciplines rather than concentrated in a single department. In 2025, the institution conferred 552 bachelor degrees, with the three largest majors accounting for 32.8% of all undergraduate graduates. These leading fields were Business Administration and Management, General, followed by Experimental Psychology and Exercise Physiology and Kinesiology. None of the undergraduate programs held top-tier national rankings, as Economics placed 196th and Psychology placed 207th in the 2027 U.S. News rankings, indicating that academic quality should be judged by course offerings and faculty fit rather than specialized program ranks. In the career marketplace, technical and analytical degrees generate the highest early returns. Based on 2023 earnings data, graduates in Computer Science earned a median salary of $68,629 one year after finishing, while Economics graduates earned a median of $67,349. Prospective applicants should note that while pre-professional and behavioral fields attract the most students, analytical majors yield the highest early compensation.

The student body at Gettysburg College is predominantly domestic and White, though incoming cohorts show meaningful global representation. Among first-year undergraduates in 2025, 82 international students made up 16.1% of the cohort. By comparison, Asian representation on campus remains modest, with 5 Asian students comprising 1% of the first-year class. Across continuing undergraduate cohorts and the graduate school, White students constitute the large majority of enrollment, while Asian and international enrollments remain modest fractions of those groups. These figures indicate that while degree programs draw students from diverse origins, international participation is primarily centered within the newest undergraduate classes, and Asian students make up a very small segment of the overall campus community.

The age composition at Gettysburg College highlights a sharp contrast between its undergraduate and graduate populations. In 2025, the undergraduate body was overwhelmingly traditional college age, with students aged 20 to 21 making up 45.4% of enrollment and those aged 18 to 19 accounting for 45.2%. This heavy concentration of young adults shapes an undergraduate campus life centered around residential activities, shared dining, and conventional collegiate traditions. In contrast, graduate degree tracks serve mid-career professionals. Students aged 40 to 49 formed the largest graduate bracket at 32.1%, followed by substantial enrollments among individuals over age fifty. Consequently, graduate students operate in a professional learning environment that remains largely separate from the daytime residential rhythm of traditional undergraduates.

Gettysburg College has built a notable international presence at the undergraduate level, even as its graduate programs enroll no international students. In 2025, international students comprised 13.8% of the undergraduate student body, a proportion that was higher than 90% of similar private liberal arts colleges. This demonstrates a strong global recruitment profile compared to peer liberal arts institutions. At the graduate level, however, international enrollment stood at 0% in 2025, with all master-level students drawn from domestic cohorts. Among undergraduate degree recipients, international students are not evenly spread across academic fields but gravitate toward quantitative coursework. Econometrics and Quantitative Economics recorded the highest concentration, with international students making up 14.3% of graduates in that major, while general business and the sciences saw much lower international shares. Prospective international applicants can expect an active undergraduate global peer group, particularly if pursuing analytical and quantitative disciplines.

Families exploring Gettysburg College can consider several higher education institutions in the surrounding region. Located 25.4 kilometers away, Dickinson College holds the 54th spot in the 2027 U.S. News National Liberal Arts Colleges ranking, offering a peer liberal arts environment within close proximity. Further east, Franklin and Marshall College sits 50.8 kilometers away, holding the 34th position among national liberal arts colleges. Applicants interested in large research universities rather than small college settings can evaluate Johns Hopkins University, located 48 kilometers away and ranked 9th among national universities, as well as University of Maryland-College Park, situated 60.7 kilometers away with a national university rank of 49th. These neighboring campuses provide practical comparisons across liberal arts and major research university options.

Campus safety at Gettysburg College shows substantial improvement alongside typical residential college enforcement patterns. In 2025, the crime rate per 1,000 students stood at 29.4, reflecting a marked downward trajectory over the previous decade. Campus incident reports are heavily dominated by substance policy enforcement rather than violent crime. From 2023 to 2025, disciplinary referrals for alcohol violations totaled 407 incidents, representing the single largest category of safety actions, followed by 116 disciplinary referrals for drug offenses. Incidents involving interpersonal harm occurred with much lower frequency during that three-year span, though the college did log reports of sexual assault and relationship disputes. For incoming students, these data indicate that campus security and residence life staff focus primarily on enforcing behavioral regulations regarding substance use, while general physical safety concerns remain limited across the college environment.