Seton Hall Welcomes New Class Of Students To South Orange Campus

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Seton Hall University is expecting to welcome nearly 1,560 first-year students to campus as part of its incoming class – a student body that represents 42 states and 17 countries.

The class of 2030 was selected from a pool of 28,070 applicants, approximately 2,300 more than the year prior, Seton Hall said.

That growth has been accompanied by increased selectivity. The university’s admission rate has fallen from 79 percent in 2023 to 67.5 percent in 2026: a decline of nearly 12 percentage points in three years.

At the same time, the academic profile of incoming students “remains strong,” continuing a broader trend of gains over the past decade, university administrators said.

Among the 33 percent of incoming students who submitted standardized test scores, the average SAT score was 1323 and the average ACT score was 29. The average high school GPA for the incoming class is 3.68, up from 3.55 in 2016.

Other highlights of the incoming class include:

• More than 40 percent of incoming freshmen are the first in their families to attend college, and 41 percent are Pell Grant-eligible
• 62 percent of incoming students identify as students of color and 61 percent identify as female

“Seton Hall is proud to welcome the Class of 2030, an accomplished and diverse group of students who bring tremendous talent, ambition and greater purpose to our community,” said alum Kathleen McCarthy, vice president for enrollment management.

“We look forward to seeing all they will accomplish in the years ahead,” McCarthy said.

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com. Learn more about advertising on Patch here. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site.