University of Puget Sound

Admission to the University of Puget Sound is relatively accessible, though its standing on national league tables has softened over time. In the 2027 U.S. News National Liberal Arts Colleges ranking, the college was ranked 100th, down from 89th in 2020. Gaining entry is manageable for most applicants, as reflected in its 2025 acceptance rate of 72.2%, which was higher than 62% of peer schools in a comparison group of 30 similarly ranked private liberal arts colleges. However, the institution experiences significant challenges in convincing admitted students to matriculate. The undergraduate yield rate stood at 11.4% in 2025, a figure higher than only 10% of peer schools in the same group. This low yield indicates that only about one in nine admitted students ultimately enrolls, suggesting that Puget Sound frequently serves as an alternative rather than a primary destination. For prospective candidates, the high acceptance rate provides a realistic admissions path, but the college continues to face steep competition from other regional and national private institutions.

University of Puget Sound operates under an admissions test policy where standardized test scores are optional, considered if submitted. Applicants evaluating their academic profile should note that test scores among submitters are competitive. For 2025, the middle 50 percent of enrolled students who submitted scores achieved an ACT composite range of 27 to 31, while the school recorded a median SAT score of 1280. Compared against peer schools in a group of similarly ranked private liberal arts colleges, this median SAT was higher than 56% of peer schools. Standardized testing is submitted by a minority of candidates; in 2025, less than a third of entering students provided SAT results and roughly one in ten submitted ACT scores. High school course performance remains central to the evaluation process. During the 2022–2023 academic year, incoming students typically brought strong academic foundations, with a large majority earning grade point averages in the A-minus to B-plus range. For applicants targeting Puget Sound, admission hinges primarily on solid classroom coursework alongside test credentials that align with these institutional standards.

Undergraduate degree conferrals at the University of Puget Sound are moderately distributed across the liberal arts and sciences rather than heavily concentrated in just one field. In 2025, the university awarded 358 bachelor degrees, with the top three programs accounting for 26% of all undergraduate completions. The largest undergraduate major was Business Administration and Management, General, with 43 graduates, followed by Biological and Physical Sciences and Psychology, General. At the graduate level, the university shows notable strength in health disciplines, especially Occupational Therapy, which ranked 41st nationally in the 2026 U.S. News graduate rankings. According to 2023 earnings data one year after graduation, bachelor recipients in Business Administration, Management and Operations reported median earnings of $50,929, followed by Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences graduates at $49,006. International students represented only 1.1% of bachelor graduates in 2025 and did not graduate from any master's or doctoral programs. For prospective students, the curriculum offers broad options in traditional liberal arts alongside strong health sciences training.

The student body at the University of Puget Sound is predominantly domestic, with undergraduates forming the majority of the campus. In 2025, overall enrollment reached 1,864 students, while graduate students accounted for a smaller share of the student population. International representation is minimal across the college; undergraduate international students accounted for 0.4% of undergraduates, a proportion lower than all peer schools in its private liberal arts college comparison group. Asian students also represent a modest segment of enrollment, accounting for 7.9% of entering freshmen and 12.6% of graduate students. White students constitute the majority within each academic cohort, alongside smaller groups of Hispanic, Pacific Islander, and Black students. For prospective international applicants, this demographic structure indicates that peers from abroad are rare, resulting in an educational setting centered almost entirely around domestic students.

The age profile at the University of Puget Sound indicates a predominantly traditional student population. In 2025, undergraduates aged 18 to 19 made up 47.4% of the undergraduate body, while those aged 20 to 21 accounted for 39.5%. Because students over age 22 form a small minority of undergraduates, campus activities and student schedules largely center on traditional college-age peers. At the graduate level, students are also relatively young; individuals aged 22 to 24 formed the largest cohort, accounting for 40% of graduate enrollees, followed by those in their mid-to-late twenties. This structure means both undergraduate classrooms and graduate seminars are dominated by students in their late teens and twenties pursuing continuous education.

International student representation at the University of Puget Sound is minimal and has remained low across the past decade. In 2025, international students made up just 0.4% of the undergraduate student body, placing Puget Sound lower than all peer schools in a comparison group of 30 similarly ranked private liberal arts colleges. At the graduate level, international enrollment is similarly limited, standing at 1.1% in 2025. Degree completion data confirm this narrow presence. In 2025, international students earned only 1.1% of bachelor's degrees, totaling 4 graduates, while no international students graduated from master's or doctoral programs. None of the university's largest undergraduate majors, including Business Administration and Biological Sciences, or major graduate programs in Occupational Therapy and Education, graduated international students that year. For overseas applicants, these figures mean Puget Sound has a very small international community, with almost all academic programs populated exclusively by domestic students.

Students considering the University of Puget Sound can explore several other academic institutions within the broader region. Just 25 kilometers away in Seattle, Seattle University is a national university ranked 179th on the 2027 list. Also in the same metropolitan area, Seattle Pacific University sits 27.3 kilometers from Puget Sound and holds a national university rank of 262. For those interested in a large public institution, the University of Washington-Seattle Campus is located 28.3 kilometers away and ranks 49th nationally. Applicants seeking another liberal arts college setting in the Pacific Northwest can evaluate Reed College, situated 123.3 kilometers away in Oregon with a rank of 60th among national liberal arts colleges. These nearby alternatives give prospective students a range of public and private options in urban and campus-based environments.

Campus safety records at the University of Puget Sound show a noticeable downward trend over the past decade. The crime rate per 1,000 students fell from 39.7 in 2016 to 19.3 in 2025, indicating an overall reduction in reported offenses. Over the three-year period from 2023 to 2025, campus safety incidents were primarily driven by disciplinary actions and property crime. Disciplinary referrals for liquor law violations formed the largest single category, totaling 99 incidents across those years, while drug-related disciplinary referrals also occurred. Among criminal offenses, motor vehicle theft was the most prevalent issue, with 37 reported cases between 2023 and 2025. Other reported incidents during this three-year span included cases of rape, stalking, and burglary. For prospective students, these statistics show that while serious interpersonal crimes do occur and warrant standard vigilance, the majority of safety reports involve substance disciplinary enforcement and vehicle property crimes.