University

Hillsdale College

Hillsdale, MI, United States

Verified · last verified 2026-09-02

University details

Hillsdale College is a U.S. undergraduate institution.

Institution type: Private, nonprofit
Campus setting: Small town
Application platforms: Common App, Direct application
Testing policy: Not available
In-state tuition: Not available
Out-of-state tuition: Not available
Cost of attendance: Not available
Undergraduate enrollment: Not available

Website Admissions Financial aid

Common Data Set

Institution-reported facts by reporting cycle. Missing and withheld values are shown explicitly.

2024–2025 · most recent available

First-year admission rate

20.7%

Calculated from applications and admissions reported in CDS C1. This is a factual calculation, not a CollegePath rating.

First-year admission

High-school GPA distribution · GPA 4.0 (C11): Not reported by institution
High-school GPA distribution · GPA 3.75-3.99 (C11): Not reported by institution
High-school GPA distribution · GPA 3.50-3.74 (C11): Not reported by institution
High-school GPA distribution · GPA 3.25-3.49 (C11): Not reported by institution

Majors

No majors reported yet.

Deadlines

Early decision · 2026–2027
2026-11-01 — Hillsdale Early Decision deadline.
https://www.hillsdale.edu/admissions-aid/admissions-2/application-process-2/
Regular decision · 2026–2027
2027-03-15 — Hillsdale Regular Decision deadline.
https://www.hillsdale.edu/admissions-aid/admissions-2/application-process-2/

Supplemental essays

How many responses?

Hillsdale essay and short-answer questions

Hillsdale applicants complete a member-screen writing supplement with an essay and short-answer questions; the exact prompts depend on application platform.

2026–2027

Required · Undergraduate applicants; required short answer
Students at Hillsdale College enroll in a multidisciplinary classical liberal arts core curriculum, taking nearly half of their four years. Explain your interest in this educational approach.
Limit: 250 words — Verbatim prompt recorded from an official first-party source; cycle labeling noted in applicability.
https://www.hillsdale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Undergraduate-Essay-and-Short-Answer-Prompts-6-24.pdf
Required · Undergraduate applicants; required short answer
As a result of your experiences at Hillsdale, who do you hope to become?
Limit: 250 words — Verbatim prompt recorded from an official first-party source; cycle labeling noted in applicability.

Application requirements

2026–2027

Application fee · Required
Value: $0
Hillsdale online and Common App applications do not require a fee.
https://www.hillsdale.edu/admissions-aid/admissions-2/application-process-2/
Recommendation letters · Required
Value: 2
Two academic letters of recommendation are required.
https://www.hillsdale.edu/admissions-aid/admissions-2/application-process-2/
Personal essay · Required
Hillsdale requires an essay and short-answer questions.
https://www.hillsdale.edu/admissions-aid/admissions-2/application-process-2/

Sources

Direct sources supporting this university’s facts, with retrieval dates.

Official source · supports deadlines:2026–2027
https://www.hillsdale.edu/admissions-aid/admissions-2/application-process-2/
Retrieved 2026-09-02 — Official institutional first-year admissions deadlines and process.
Official source · supports requirements:2026–2027
https://www.hillsdale.edu/admissions-aid/admissions-2/application-process-2/
Retrieved 2026-09-02 — Official institutional first-year application requirements.

High-school GPA distribution · GPA 3.00-3.24 (C11)

Not reported by institution

High-school GPA distribution · GPA 2.50-2.99 (C11)

Not reported by institution

High-school GPA distribution · GPA 2.00-2.49 (C11)

Not reported by institution

High-school GPA distribution · GPA 1.00-1.99 (C11)

Not reported by institution

High-school GPA distribution · GPA below 1.0 (C11)

Not reported by institution

Average high-school GPA (C12)

Not reported by institution

First-year applications (C1)

3,181 applicants

IPEDS 2024 provisional statistic discovered via CollegeData.FYI; verify against the institution CDS

First-year students admitted (C1)

659 students

IPEDS 2024 provisional statistic discovered via CollegeData.FYI; verify against the institution CDS

First-year students enrolled (C1)

366 students

IPEDS 2024 provisional statistic discovered via CollegeData.FYI; verify against the institution CDS

Academics and class size

Student-to-faculty ratio (I2): Not reported by institution

Enrollment

Undergraduate enrollment (B1): 1,649 students; IPEDS 2024 provisional statistic discovered via CollegeData.FYI; verify against the institution CDS
Full-time undergraduate enrollment (B1): 1,542 students; IPEDS 2024 provisional statistic discovered via CollegeData.FYI; verify against the institution CDS
Part-time undergraduate enrollment (B1): 107 students; IPEDS 2024 provisional statistic discovered via CollegeData.FYI; verify against the institution CDS

Testing

Enrolled students submitting scores · SAT (C9): 32%; IPEDS 2024 provisional statistic discovered via CollegeData.FYI; verify against the institution CDS
Enrolled students submitting scores · ACT (C9): 34%; IPEDS 2024 provisional statistic discovered via CollegeData.FYI; verify against the institution CDS
SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing · 25th percentile (C9): 680 score; IPEDS 2024 provisional statistic discovered via CollegeData.FYI; verify against the institution CDS
SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing · 75th percentile (C9): 750 score; IPEDS 2024 provisional statistic discovered via CollegeData.FYI; verify against the institution CDS
SAT Math · 25th percentile (C9): 640 score; IPEDS 2024 provisional statistic discovered via CollegeData.FYI; verify against the institution CDS
SAT Math · 75th percentile (C9): 740 score; IPEDS 2024 provisional statistic discovered via CollegeData.FYI; verify against the institution CDS
ACT Composite · 25th percentile (C9): 30 score; IPEDS 2024 provisional statistic discovered via CollegeData.FYI; verify against the institution CDS
ACT Composite · 75th percentile (C9): 33 score; IPEDS 2024 provisional statistic discovered via CollegeData.FYI; verify against the institution CDS

Source: Hillsdale College Common Data Set 2024-2025 (institutional data not reported) · Retrieved 2026-09-02

Open the official institutional source

Document ID: url:https://www.hillsdale.edu/ · Import: cds-2026-09-v85

2018–2019 · earlier reporting cycle

First-year admission rate

36.0%

Calculated from applications and admissions reported in CDS C1. This is a factual calculation, not a CollegePath rating.

Enrollment

Undergraduate enrollment (B1): 1,468 students; Official CDS B1 reports 1,468 total undergraduates for Fall 2018.
Full-time undergraduate enrollment (B1): 1,434 students; Official CDS B1 totals 740 full-time men and 694 full-time women undergraduates.
Part-time undergraduate enrollment (B1): 34 students; Official CDS B1 totals 18 part-time men and 16 part-time women undergraduates.

First-year admission

First-year applications (C1): 2,208 applicants; Official CDS C1 reports 1,122 men and 1,086 women applicants for Fall 2018.
First-year students admitted (C1): 795 students; Official CDS C1 reports 421 men and 374 women admitted applicants for Fall 2018.
First-year students enrolled (C1): 339 students; Official CDS C1 reports 338 full-time and 1 part-time first-year enrollees for Fall 2018.
High-school GPA distribution · GPA 4.0 (C11): 86%; Official CDS C11 reports 86 percent with GPA 3.75 and higher; the project top band is labeled GPA 4.0.
High-school GPA distribution · GPA 3.75-3.99 (C11): 8%; Official CDS C11 reports 8 percent with GPA 3.50–3.74; stored in the next supported GPA band.
High-school GPA distribution · GPA 3.50-3.74 (C11): 3%; Official CDS C11 reports 3 percent with GPA 3.25–3.49; stored in the next supported GPA band.
High-school GPA distribution · GPA 3.25-3.49 (C11): 2%; Official CDS C11 reports 2 percent with GPA 3.00–3.24; stored in the next supported GPA band.
High-school GPA distribution · GPA 3.00-3.24 (C11): 1%; Official CDS C11 reports 1 percent with GPA 2.50–2.99; stored in the next supported GPA band.
High-school GPA distribution · GPA 2.50-2.99 (C11): 0%; Official CDS C11 explicitly reports zero percent with GPA 2.00–2.49; stored in the next supported GPA band.
High-school GPA distribution · GPA 2.00-2.49 (C11): 0%; Official CDS C11 explicitly reports zero percent with GPA 1.00–1.99; stored in the next supported GPA band.
High-school GPA distribution · GPA 1.00-1.99 (C11): 0%; Official CDS C11 explicitly reports zero percent with GPA below 1.0; stored in the next supported GPA band.
High-school GPA distribution · GPA below 1.0 (C11): 0%; Official CDS C11 reports no additional students below the supplied GPA ranges.
Average high-school GPA (C12): 3.89 GPA; Official CDS C12 reports an average high-school GPA of 3.89.

Testing

Enrolled students submitting scores · SAT (C9): 34%; Official CDS C9 reports 34 percent submitting SAT scores.
Enrolled students submitting scores · ACT (C9): 69%; Official CDS C9 reports 69 percent submitting ACT scores.
SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing · 25th percentile (C9): 655 score; Official CDS C9 reports a 655 SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing 25th percentile.
SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing · 75th percentile (C9): 740 score; Official CDS C9 reports a 740 SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing 75th percentile.
SAT Math · 25th percentile (C9): 620 score; Official CDS C9 reports a 620 SAT Math 25th percentile.
SAT Math · 75th percentile (C9): 725 score; Official CDS C9 reports a 725 SAT Math 75th percentile.
ACT Composite · 25th percentile (C9): 29 score; Official CDS C9 reports a 29 ACT Composite 25th percentile.
ACT Composite · 75th percentile (C9): 32 score; Official CDS C9 reports a 32 ACT Composite 75th percentile.

Academics and class size

Student-to-faculty ratio (I2): 9:1; Official CDS I2 reports a Fall 2018 student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, based on 1,488 students and 171 faculty.

Source: Hillsdale College Common Data Set 2018-2019 · Retrieved 2026-09-02

Open the official institutional source

Document ID: url:https://www.hillsdale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/2018-2019-Common-Data-Set.pdf · Import: cds-2026-09-v125-hillsdale

Required · Undergraduate applicants; required short answer

The pursuit of truth leads to eternal questions, including the question of God. What role do you see faith playing in your learning at Hillsdale?

Limit: 250 words — Verbatim prompt recorded from an official first-party source; cycle labeling noted in applicability.

https://www.hillsdale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Undergraduate-Essay-and-Short-Answer-Prompts-6-24.pdf