University of Rhode Island

For Fall 2025, 28,021 first-year students applied to URI, 20,892 were admitted and 3,431 enrolled: an acceptance rate of 74.6%.

Source: URI Common Data Set 2025-2026 (opens in a new tab), section C1. Read Oct 1, 2026.

By residency, first-year applicants, Fall 2025

Source: URI Common Data Set 2025-2026 (opens in a new tab), section C1, residency table. Read Oct 1, 2026.

By school or major. URI's Common Data Set reports one first-year acceptance rate for the whole university, with no rate by college or major.

Source: URI Common Data Set 2025-2026 (opens in a new tab). Read Oct 1, 2026.

Early decision and early action. URI's Common Data Set lists 202 early decision applicants and 150 admitted, but labels them for the Fall 2024 entering class rather than Fall 2025, so no early rate is shown here. It gives no early action counts; early action is not restrictive.

Source: URI Common Data Set 2025-2026 (opens in a new tab), sections C21 and C22. Read Oct 1, 2026.

For students applying in fall 2026, entering fall 2027

You apply to URI with an intended major. Some majors ask for more:

• Nursing. A required Nursing statement, and URI strongly encourages applying by the December 1 early action deadline. Applicants should show strength in math and science, including biology and chemistry. If you are not admissible to Nursing, you may be able to ask to be considered for another major, as space allows.
• Pharm.D.. Admission to the zero-to-six Doctor of Pharmacy program is competitive. It asks for a supplemental essay and two letters of recommendation, and encourages four years of math (through precalculus or calculus), chemistry and biology. If you are not admitted directly, you may be eligible to pursue the Pharm.D. through a B.S.P.S. pathway.
• Engineering. URI encourages four units of math (including precalculus or calculus) and three of science with at least one lab, physics and chemistry strongly encouraged. If you are not admitted directly, you may be admitted to a pre-engineering pathway.
• Music. Every music major, music therapy included, requires an audition. If you are admitted to URI before you audition, your place in the major depends on a successful audition. Music therapy applicants are strongly encouraged to apply by December 1.
• Honors and Talent Development. Both ask for a supplemental essay. The Talent Development Program deadline is December 15, with decisions in February.

Source: URI Undergraduate Admission, First-Year Student Admission (opens in a new tab). Read Oct 1, 2026.

111 majors across 8 schools. Every bachelor's degree major in URI's official 2026-27 Online Catalog, grouped by the college that offers it, with the degree it leads to. Minors, certificates, graduate programs and the RN to BS completion programs are left out.

For students applying in fall 2026, entering fall 2027

December 1 is also the priority deadline for merit scholarships. The application fee is $65, or a fee waiver. Early decision deposits are due February 1, or within two weeks of your financial aid award if you applied for aid; for everyone else, May 1.

Source: URI Undergraduate Admission, First-Year Student Admission (opens in a new tab). Read Oct 1, 2026.

Early Decision is binding: you and a parent or guardian sign an agreement, and if admitted you enroll at URI and withdraw your other applications. You are released if you are not admitted to your first-choice major, or if URI asks for your senior-year grades; your application then moves to Regular Decision, with a decision by late March. Early Action is non-binding. Early decision is not an option for Rhode Island students applying to the Talent Development Program.

Source: URI Undergraduate Admission, Early Decision and Early Action (opens in a new tab). Read Oct 1, 2026.

For students applying in fall 2026, entering fall 2027

URI is test-optional. If you choose to send SAT or ACT scores, they must come electronically from the testing service, and URI superscores: it takes the highest combination of section scores across all test dates. The ACT writing section and the optional SAT essay are not required.

Source: URI Undergraduate Admission, First-Year Student Admission (opens in a new tab). Read Oct 1, 2026.

The Common Data Set also marks the SAT or ACT as not required for fall 2027 applicants, but considered if submitted.

Source: URI Common Data Set 2025-2026 (opens in a new tab), section C8. Read Oct 1, 2026.

For students applying in fall 2027, entering fall 2028

Not announced yet. When we checked URI's admission pages on October 1, 2026, we found no announced changes for fall 2028 entry. The deadlines and rules above are for fall 2027 entry.

Source: URI Undergraduate Admission, First-Year Student Admission (opens in a new tab). Read Oct 1, 2026.

The published cost of a year at URI, 2026-2027:

For a full-time undergraduate living on campus, fall and spring. The same page lists a New England Regional rate with $27,448 in tuition. Some programs add fees, such as $1,500 a year in engineering, and health insurance is billed unless you waive it.

Source: URI Financial Aid, 2026-27 Estimated Undergraduate Cost of Attendance (opens in a new tab). Read Oct 1, 2026.

Average net price per year, by family income, 2023-24:

What first-year, full-time, in-state students who received federal aid paid after grants and scholarships, by family income, in 2023-24, the latest year the Department of Education publishes. Your own price comes from URI's aid offer.

Source: College Scorecard, U.S. Department of Education (opens in a new tab). Read Oct 1, 2026.

Chosen for how close each is to University of Rhode Island on acceptance rate, public or private, location and majors offered.

• University of VermontBurlington, VT · Public73% admitted$19,343 average net price
• University of Massachusetts BostonBoston, MA · Public83.8% admitted$17,707 average net price
• University of Massachusetts LowellLowell, MA · Public83% admitted$17,163 average net price
• University of New HampshireDurham, NH · Public89.1% admitted$23,805 average net price
• University of Massachusetts AmherstAmherst, MA · Public59.9% admitted$22,383 average net price

Admitted: each school's latest first-year acceptance rate, so the year can differ from school to school; each school's page names its year and source. Average net price: what federal aid recipients paid per year after grants, 2023-24, and the in-state figure for a public university.