Colgate University has received more than 21,000 applications from students hoping to join the Class of 2027.
Following the application deadline of January 15, numbers reached 21,114, keeping pace with the University’s all-time application record set last year. This year’s outcome follows three consecutive years of significant increases in application numbers — a 20% increase compared with the Class of 2025 and a 146% increase compared with the Class of 2024.
The multi-year growth is coupled with consistently strong academic quality, evident again in this year’s competitive pool of applicants. Highlights for the Class of 2027 application cohort include a 22% increase in Early Decision I applications, a 4.6% increase in applications from self-identified domestic students of color, and a 15% increase in applications from first-generation students.
A number of efforts to reduce barriers and support students throughout the application process have played a role in Colgate’s enrollment success, according to Jones and Wood Family Vice President for Admission and Financial Aid Gary Ross.
“It is a time with so many exciting changes at Colgate, which so many prospective students recognize,” Ross says.
This transformation includes the Colgate Commitment, a financial aid initiative through which the University has eliminated student loans from student aid packages. This year the commitment expanded to include families with incomes up to $175,000 and to cover the cost of textbooks for all aided students.
“Sustaining this kind of growth — more than 20,000 applications two years in a row,” Ross says, “shows that Colgate continues to secure its place as one of the finest undergraduate institutions in the nation and the world.”