SHU again breaks records for most applicants, largest class, highest test scores

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — More than 23,000 would-be Pirates completed applications for the Class of 2023, making this the fifth year in a row that Seton Hall University has broken its record for student applicants. Over the last three years the number of applicants to Seton Hall has risen approximately 40 percent. 

Of those 23,000-plus applicants, more than 1,615 freshmen are registered and set to begin classes this fall. That makes for the largest undergraduate class in Seton Hall history, beating last year’s record-breaking class of 2022, which enrolled 1,524 freshman. 

In addition to a record-breaking number of applicants and students, the largest class in Seton Hall’s history has continued the trend of rising academic achievement. The class of 2023 has the highest average SAT score in Seton Hall history — 1235, up 20 points in the last two years — and the highest ACT average of 26.5. 

“As our reputation for academic excellence and employment outcomes has grown, so has our pool of applicants and the quality of our students,” Vice President for Enrollment Management Alyssa McCloud said. “We continue to attract some of the best and brightest in this country and throughout the world. The long and storied history of Seton Hall is unfolding in new and exciting ways as our students and graduates continue to show what great minds can do.”

While sustaining academic excellence in its incoming class, Seton Hall also has held its commitment to diversity in all forms and its identity as a university of opportunity: 25 percent of all incoming students are Pell eligible; 45 percent identify as students of color; and 36 percent of all students come from out of state. In addition, 25 percent are the first generation of their families to attend college.

  Seton Hall University