The Number Of College Applicants Shows Healthy Increase For Next Fall

The number of college applicants has increased by 4% over the same time last year, according to the latest “deadline update” from the Common Application. The data cover applications for fall 2025 admissions, primarily to four-year institutions.

Through March 1, 2025, 1,390,256 distinct first-year applicants had applied to 863 institutions using the Common APP, an increase of more than 57,000 applicants compared to the 2023–24 admission cycle.

The total number of applications through March 1 rose 6% from 8,072,316 last year to 8,535,903 this year. Applicants were applying to slightly more institutions this year than in 2023–24 (up 1% from 6.06 to 6.14 applications per applicant).

This year’s increase also sustains the upward trend in applications seen every year since the 2020-21 cycle, the first admissions year after the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Compared to 2020-21, the number of applicants to four-year colleges this year has increased by more than 276,000.

Applicant Demographics

Applicant growth was particularly strong among what the Common App deems “underrepresented minority race/ethnicity students (URM).” URM applicants were up 12%, compared to 2% for non-URM applicants. Latino applicants increased by 13% while Black applicants rose by 10%. Asian applicants gained by 6%, while the number of white applicants showed no change.

Applicants identifying as first-generation college students grew at 13%, while the number of continuing-generation applicants did not increase from 2023–24 to 2024–25.

Female applicants grew by 5% since 2023-2024, while male applicants increased at a rate of 4%.

Greater Increase Among Low-Income Applicants

The number of applicants from low-income neighborhoods increased by 8%, more than twice the rate of increase for those from neighborhoods above the median income level (3%).

Growth also was greater for students reporting eligibility for a Common App fee waiver, which increased at more than four times the rate of students not reporting fee waiver eligibility (9% vs. 2%).

Regional and International Differences

The Southwestern region saw the largest growth in applicants (34%). Texas (37%) was the fastest growing state, followed by the District of Columbia which grew at a 18% clip, and North Dakota (a 13% increase). The Western region saw a 1% decline, and New England remained flat. Growth in the number of applicants was roughly equal across metropolitan and micropolitan areas and small towns (ranging from 4% to 6%), while applicants from rural areas grew by only 1%.

For the first time since 2019, the rate of domestic applicant growth exceeded growth in international applicants. Domestic applicants increased by 5%, while international applicants declined by 1%.

Institutional Differences

Applications to public institutions (10%) increased far more than those to private universities and colleges (2%). Additionally, the 4% growth in applications to the most selective institutions (those with admit rates below 25%) was substantially lower than the 6-7% growth seen by institutions that were less selective.

Standardized Testing

Applicants reporting a standardized test score like the ACT or SAT increased by 11%, while the number of applicants not reporting any test score decreased by 1%. This is the first time since the 2021–22 cycle that the growth rate of test score reporters has surpassed that of non-reporters. This increase occurred despite the fact that the share of Common App institutions with a test score requirement increased only slightly from 4% in 2023–24 to 5% this year. These data are the most complete that the Common App will report until August, when it will provide a more comprehensive analysis.

Whether the gains in applicants will translate to an increase in new fall enrollments is far from certain, particularly given the increased potential for confusion and delays in financial aid information from the Education Department, which has seen a layoff of nearly half of its staff in recent days. How that reduction might affect the oversight and distribution of federal financial aid is not yet clear, but some higher education expert are expecting the worst, particularly given the last year’s troubled overhaul and rollout of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. One Education Department employee told Inside Higher Ed anonymously that the staff cuts could prove particularly problematic for FAFSA’s functionality. “There’s now no one here to oversee the system that ingests IRS data or the entire data center that hosts the FAFSA," they said. "The team is scrambling to assign other people, but the expertise isn’t immediately replaceable.” Other factors are in play as well. It’s still early in the admissions cycle, and many colleges do not participate in the Common App so their numbers are not included. Still, given all the chaos that higher education has had thrown its way in the past month, these application numbers come as one bit of welcome news.