Belmont University

Gaining admission to Belmont University has become very accessible. In the 2027 U.S. News Best Colleges rankings, Belmont placed 208th among national universities, moving up from a rank of 236 in 2024. For 2025, Belmont admitted 95.3% of its applicants, an acceptance rate that is higher than 97% of 30 similarly ranked private universities. This very high acceptance rate demonstrates that the university turns away relatively few prospective students. Once admitted, however, only 17.7% of accepted students chose to enroll, indicating that while Belmont draws students effectively compared to several peers, the majority of admitted applicants ultimately decide to attend elsewhere. For families planning their college applications, these trends show that Belmont operates with an open admissions posture, making the university a realistic target for students meeting its baseline requirements.

Applicants to Belmont University typically present solid high school preparation alongside standardized test scores that place them in the upper half of test takers. For the entering class of 2025, enrolled students achieved a median composite SAT score of 1260, a result that is higher than 64% of reporting peer institutions among similarly ranked private universities. Standardized test submission has become less common in recent admissions cycles, with ACT and SAT reporting declining significantly. Instead, high school performance plays a central role in admissions evaluations. During the 2023–2024 academic year, 43.0% of entering first-year students earned a perfect 4.0 high school grade point average, demonstrating the high academic standard of enrolled cohorts. Prospective applicants should therefore focus on building a strong secondary school academic record alongside test results near the institution's median to remain competitive during review.

Belmont University concentrates its undergraduate degrees heavily in music business and healthcare, whereas its highest nationally ranked programs are found at the graduate level. In 2025, the top three undergraduate majors accounted for 26.6% of all bachelor's degrees awarded. Music Management led all programs with 211 bachelor's graduates, followed by Registered Nursing and Music, Other. While these popular creative arts majors form the core of Belmont's undergraduate identity, its highest academic rankings belong to professional graduate schools. In the 2026 U.S. News rankings, Belmont's graduate program in occupational therapy ranked 41st, health care law ranked 55th, and its overall law program ranked 85th. Post-graduation earnings vary by discipline; according to 2023 earnings data, bachelor's graduates in registered nursing earned a median salary of $80,836 one year after graduation. For applicants, this means Belmont offers strong career training in specialized creative industries alongside high-earning healthcare pathways.

Belmont University enrolls a student body that is predominantly female and majority White across both undergraduate and graduate divisions. In the entering freshman class of 2025, White students formed the clear majority, followed by Hispanic, Black, and multiracial students. Asian and international students account for relatively small proportions of the campus community. Among incoming freshmen, Asian students numbered 57, representing 3.7% of the cohort, with similar small shares continuing throughout upper-level classes and graduate programs. International representation is minimal across the institution, with just 11 international students enrolled in the 2025 freshman class, making up 0.7% of the entering group. Gender distribution leans heavily female across all degree levels, particularly in undergraduate programs and graduate healthcare tracks. For applicants seeking a campus environment, these enrollment patterns mean Belmont has a largely domestic, traditional demographic profile with limited international and Asian presence.

Belmont University displays a clear division between its undergraduate and graduate populations. In 2025, undergraduates were overwhelmingly of traditional college age. Students aged 18 to 19 accounted for 42.1% of all undergraduates, while those aged 20 to 21 represented another 41.6%, leaving only a small segment of older undergraduates. Conversely, the graduate student body consists primarily of young adults entering advanced professional degrees immediately after college. Students aged 22 to 24 made up 52.4% of all enrolled graduate students. These age patterns show that campus life revolves primarily around traditional daytime college experiences for undergraduates, alongside early-career professional cohorts in graduate programs.

International enrollment at Belmont University is exceptionally modest across both degree tiers. In 2025, undergraduate international students made up 0.9% of the undergraduate student body, a share that declined over the preceding decade and is higher than only 7% of peer schools among similarly ranked private universities. At the graduate level, international enrollment has remained steady, with international students comprising 1.8% of graduate students in 2025. Among graduating students, international representation remains similarly minimal, making up just over one percent of bachelor's degree recipients and less than four percent of master's degree earners. At the undergraduate level, international graduates are scattered thinly across prominent programs like Music Management and Registered Nursing. At the graduate level, international degree recipients are most noticeable in specialized business fields, including Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods. For prospective international applicants, Belmont offers an immersive American campus setting, though students should anticipate a very small community of peers from abroad.

Applicants exploring Belmont University have several distinctive collegiate alternatives within the local Nashville area and surrounding region. Located just 0.9 kilometers away in Nashville, Vanderbilt University is a leading national research university ranked 16th in the 2027 U.S. News rankings. Also situated within Nashville, just 2 kilometers from Belmont, Lipscomb University offers a private comprehensive university environment ranked 250th nationally. Students willing to look beyond the immediate city borders can consider The University of the South, located 80.9 kilometers away in Sewanee, which is ranked 49th among national liberal arts colleges. In addition, Tennessee Technological University is a public national university located 72.1 kilometers away in Cookeville, holding a national rank of 299.

Campus safety at Belmont University is defined predominantly by student conduct disciplinary referrals rather than violent crime. Forward Pathway's crime rate per 1,000 students stood at 8.4 in 2025, indicating a relatively stable safety environment over recent years. Between 2023 and 2025, the overwhelming majority of recorded safety incidents were institutional disciplinary actions for substance policy infractions. Disciplinary referrals for liquor law violations totaled 484 over that three-year span, while drug violations accounted for 61 referrals. Criminal offenses remained comparatively low during the same 2023 to 2025 period, with campus records noting small numbers of stalking, theft, sexual harassment, and rape incidents. Families evaluating the campus environment can see that Belmont's safety log reflects routine residential policy enforcement for alcohol compliance rather than a pattern of violent criminal activity.