Embry-Riddle Acceptance Rate, Ranking, & Tuition – 2024
May 1, 2024
Have you ever wanted to fly a plane? Maybe you’ve had the fleeting feeling that one day you could learn—or maybe you’ve given serious thought to becoming a pilot. If you’ve ever imagined yourself donning a pilot’s uniform and seeing the world, you’ll want to consider applying to Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU). Embry–Riddle is the largest accredited university system specializing in aviation and aerospace. It is arguably the best-known school in the United States for training pilots and has grown into a university focused on all elements of aviation and aeronautics (scroll down for the Embry-Riddle acceptance rates).
Then, if you’ve ever thought about a career in the Air Force, attending Embry–Riddle will get you in contact with one of the most extensive Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) in the country, and the largest Air Force ROTC program in the United States. Participating in the Air Force ROTC at Embry–Riddle won’t automatically guarantee you a career in military aviation, but it’s about as close as you can get.
Applying to Embry–Riddle means choosing between attending classes in Daytona Beach, Florida or Prescott, Arizona. Students can also choose to attend Embry–Riddle online through the school’s Worldwide campus. You’ll find more on that in the Where is Embry Riddle University? section below.
How hard is it to get into Embry–Riddle and what else can you study at this renowned aerospace school? Let’s dive in.
Embry–Riddle Acceptance Rate
First-time students apply to either Daytona Beach or Prescott, and the university breaks down its admissions demographics by campus. Here’s how the admissions numbers break out for the Fall 2023 semester across both campuses and with the total admissions numbers combined:
| First-Time Students | Daytona Beach | Prescott | Both Campuses |
| Applied | 10,286 | 3,886 | 14,172 |
| Accepted | 6,818 | 2,922 | 9,740 |
| Enrolled | 1,931 | 833 | 2,764 |
But what are the Embry-Riddle admissions rates?
- Daytona Beach: 66 percent
- Prescott: 77 percent
- Both Campuses: 68.7 percent
When it comes to keeping students on campus, ERAU does well.
- The Fall 2022 retention rate, after one year on campus, was 85 percent for both campuses combined.
- The Fall 2017 graduation rate, after six years, was 68.4 percent for both campuses combined.
Embry-Riddle Acceptance Rate (Continued)
And what kinds of people are attending ERAU? The university has provided the following demographic information:
| Demographic | Daytona Beach | Prescott | Both Campuses |
| Undergraduate enrollment | 7,551 | 3,250 | 10,801 |
| Full-time | 7,187 | 3,086 | 10,273 |
| Part-time | 364 | 164 | 528 |
| Full-time equivalent (FTE) | 7,350.3 | 3,152.4 | 10,502.6 |
| International students | 10.2% | 8.5% | 9.7% |
| Female students | 27% | 28% | 27.3% |
The above admissions and demographic information comes from the university itself.
In terms of diversity, the 2022 racial and ethnic incoming class profile looked like this:
- American Indian or Alaska Native: 0 percent
- Asian: 4 percent
- Black or African American: 5 percent
- Hispanic: 31 percent
- Pacific Islander: 0 percent
- More than one Race: 4 percent
- White: 44 percent
- Race or Ethnicity Unknown: 3 percent
- International: 9 percent
Embry Riddle is an SAT/ACT optional school. Among the 58 percent of students who submitted scores in Fall 2022, the median SAT scores broke down like this:
- SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing: 610
- SAT Math: 620
Embry-Riddle Acceptance Rate (Continued)
Among the 28 percent of students who submitted ACT test results, the median scores broke down like this:
- ACT Composite: 29
- ACT English: 29
- ACT Math: 28
The median score signifies that 50 percent of students scored higher and 50 percent of students score lower than these numbers.
Embry–Riddle University Ranking
Embry–Riddle is proud of its reputation as a top school for engineering, aerospace, and educating veterans. Take it from them: “A national leader in aviation, aerospace and STEM, we are training the workforce of tomorrow and blazing trails in discovery and exploration. Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University continues to earn top distinctions across all three campuses in U.S. News & World Report’s, 2024 rankings.”
What are those rankings, exactly? As sorted by U.S. News & World Report in 2024, ERAU ranks as the following:
- No. 1 Veterans, Regional – West: Prescott Campus
- No. 3 Most Innovative Schools, Regional Universities: Daytona Beach Campus
- No. 1 Best Regional Colleges, Regional – West: Prescott Campus
- No. 5 Online Bachelor’s Programs for Veterans: Worldwide / Online
- No. 4 Best Undergraduate Aerospace Engineering: Daytona Beach Campus
- No. 7 Best Undergraduate Teaching Programs: Daytona Beach Campus
- No. 9 Best Online Master’s in Engineering Programs for Veterans: Worldwide / Online
- No. 6 Best Regional Universities – South: Daytona Beach Campus
- No. 3 Best for Veterans, Regional – South: Daytona Beach Campus
With that kind of traction, it’s no pun to say that the Embry–Riddle Eagles really do soar.
Embry–Riddle University Tuition
For the 2023–2024 academic year, the National Center for Education Statistics has estimated the costs at ERAU as the following:
| Tuition and Fees | $42,304 |
| Books and Supplies | $1,400 |
| Room and Board, On Campus | $13,670 |
| Total Expenses, On Campus | $62,936 |
Because ERAU is a private institution, prospective students should expect to see a slightly higher price tag than what they might see at an in-state school. It’s worth considering, however, that the typically higher cost at a private school is often offset by higher private financial aid. This, however, will all depend on your individual economic and academic situation, and the scholarships, grants, and loans for which you qualify.
So, what does financial aid at ERAU look like?
In the 2021–2022 year, things broke out like this:
- Average grant or scholarship awarded: $20,372
- Average student loan aid: $15,475
- Average federal student loans: $5,346
- Average other/private student loans: $31,019
Embry Riddle Acceptance Rate & Tuition (Continued)
Grants and scholarships are types of financial aid that you do not pay back. Loans—both federal and private—must be paid back eventually. Federal student loan aid (otherwise known as student loans from the federal government) have more freedom and flexibility in terms of how you pay them back. There are also options for public student loan forgiveness, depending on the type of field in which you work.
Private (in this case “other”) student loan aid repayments are much more rigid, and there is currently no discussion or option for private student loan forgiveness at a public or private level.
So, it’s worth noting that the average student at Embry–Riddle did need to take out a significant amount of private loans to cover the cost of tuition. And remember: these are numbers for one academic year at a time—not all four years (or more) of school.
The average loan amount (federal and private combined) more or less squares with the average “net price” for the 2021-2022 school year:
- Average net price: $38,983
Just know that these are average numbers and your experience may vary.
Embry–Riddle University Notable Alumni
| JoAnne S. Bass | Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force |
| Edward K. Beale | Award-winning author and retired United States Coast Guard Commander |
| Mark H. Berry | Arkansas State Representative |
| Gregory A. Biscone | United States Air Force Inspector General and deputy director of operations at United States Central Command |
| Ben Brainard | Stand-up comedian and social media personality |
| Kevin Bratcher | Republican politician and member of the Kentucky House of Representatives; House Majority Whip |
| Charles Q. Brown Jr. | General, US Air Force, 21st Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; 22nd chief of staff of the Air Force; first African American to be appointed as chief of staff and to lead any branch of the United States Armed Forces |
| Daniel C. Burbank | Astronaut and U.S. Coast Guard Captain |
| Dan Carter | Republican member of the Connecticut House of Representatives |
| Jeffrey B. Cashman | Air National Guard brigadier general |
| Donna L. Cottrell | U.S. Coast Guard rear admiral; Coast Guard District 9 commander; former director of Joint Interagency Task Force West, the U.S. Pacific Command’s executive liaison |
| Amber Gell | Rocket scientist; NASA engineer |
| Nancy Hann | Rear admiral, deputy director of the NOAA Corps |
| Connally Edozien | Nigerian football player who plays for the Carolina RailHawks Football Club |
Where is Embry–Riddle University?
Embry–Riddle has built two substantial campuses to cater to students in both the eastern and western parts of the United States. These physical campuses are in Daytona Beach, Florida and Prescott, Arizona. Embry–Riddle also boasts an extensive online university and a series of smaller campuses around the world, its “Worldwide campus.”
How do you know which campus is right for you? The best way is to schedule a campus tour. In the meantime, check out more about each campus below.
- Daytona Beach, Florida Campus
Daytona Beach is the university’s oldest residential campus and was constructed in 1965, adjacent to the Daytona Beach International Airport. This has enabled the campus to connect to an aircraft ramp owned by the university for flight training.
Embry-Riddle Acceptance Rate (Continued)
At Daytona Beach, students will find the student center and Jack R. Hunt Aviator Park, surrounded by an aviation complex, academic quad, and residence halls. There are seven residence halls on campus, and one off-campus housing complex.
- Prescott, Arizona Campus
The Prescott campus opened in 1978 and is 100 miles north of Phoenix, where students enjoy nearly 300 days of sunshine a year. That means plenty of time to get to the flight training center at nearby Ernest A. Love Field. Along with its four academic colleges and 19 bachelor’s degrees and two master’s programs, the Prescott campus offers the only Global Security and Intelligence Studies program in the United States.
- Worldwide Campus
With more than 22,000 students online and at 130 campuses, the Embry–Riddle online campus offers 40 degree programs covering disciplines such as: aviation, business, communication, computer science, emergency services, engineering, human factors, management, safety, security, logistics, and unmanned systems.
The ERAU worldwide campuses are located around the globe, including on military bases, with the largest existing in Singapore.
Embry–Riddle University Majors
With a student-faculty ratio of 18:1, students enjoy lots of time with each other and faculty.
The most popular majors are Embry–Riddle Daytona Beach for 2022 graduates are:
- Aeronautics/Aviation/Aerospace Science and Technology: 44 percent
- Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering: 18 percent
- Mechanical Engineering: 11 percent
- Business Administration, Management and Operations: 5 percent
- Homeland Security: 5 percent
- Computational Mathematics: 3 percent
- Remote Aircraft Pilot: 3 percent
- Air Traffic Controller: 3 percent
Embry–Riddle University Acceptance Rate — Review
Embry–Riddle is a top choice for students searching for a surefire way to jumpstart a military or aeronautical career. With plenty of on-campus and online options around the world, Embry–Riddle is a great option for students who also want to combine studying with a top-ranked university in some very sought-after STEM fields.
If you’re thinking about entering the military after college, you might also consider checking out the Naval Academy and West Point. When you’re ready to start your applications, a College Transitions Counselor is waiting to work with you.
