Facts and figures

General information

  • Founded: 1832
  • Type: A highly selective, national, four-year residential college of liberal arts and sciences
  • Location: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; on a beautiful 260-acre campus with over 90 buildings. Adjacent to the Gettysburg National Military Park. 36 miles from the state capital of Harrisburg, 55 miles from Baltimore, 80 miles from Washington, D.C., 117 miles from Philadelphia, and 212 miles from New York City.
  • 2025 Carnegie Institutional Classification: Special Focus: Arts and Sciences
  • Accreditation: Accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education

Academics (2024-25 Academic Year)

  • Academic programs: over 40 majors; over 40 minors
  • Student to faculty ratio: 10 to 1
  • Average class size: 18; median class size: 17. Class sizes vary by course level and by discipline. For example, 300-level classes average 15 students. First-Year Seminars average 15 students.
  • Baccalaureate degrees conferred during the 2024-25 academic year: 552 students earned a bachelor’s degree, including 138 students (25 percent of the class) who completed more than one major. In total, these 552 students completed 693 majors. The most common fields of study: Business, Organizations, & Management (15.2 percent of the class, or 84/552), Psychology (11.6 percent, or 64/552), Economics and Mathematical Economics (combined, 10.1 percent, or 56/552), History (9.8 percent, or 54/552), Health Sciences (9.1 percent, or 50/552), Political Science (8.9 percent, or 49/552), Public Policy (5.6 percent, or 31/552), Environmental Studies (5.1 percent, or 28/552), English (4.5 percent, 25/552), and Sociology (4.3 percent, 24/552). For historical data, visit this table.

Learn more about our academic programs

Full-time faculty (2024-25 Academic Year)

  • Total number of full-time faculty: approximately 200
  • Female: 45%; male: 55%
  • 96 percent hold a doctorate or other terminal degree. All tenured and tenure-track faculty have a doctorate or other terminal degree.
  • Tenured: 71%
  • Tenured and tenure-track (combined): 85%
  • Domestic faculty of color and international faculty (combined): 25%

Participation in High-Impact Practices during their time at the College: 2024 graduating class (by the time of graduation)

  • Completed at least one internship: 78%
  • Faculty-mentored research: 55%
  • Studied abroad (for credit) for a semester or longer: 44% (Note that prior to the COVID pandemic, over 50 percent of a graduating class had studied abroad.)
  • Served in a campus leadership role(s) (e.g., campus organization/club officer, program coordinator): 61%
  • Additionally, students participate in other High-Impact Practices. All students are required to take a First Year Seminar and complete a capstone course or experience. Many students also participate in service-learning.

63 percent of the Fall 2024 entering cohort have opted in the Guided Pathways, which include various High-Impact Practices and more.

Retention and graduation

  • First-year retention rate (Fall 2023 entering cohort): 91%
  • Six-year graduation rate (Fall 2018 entering cohort): 83%

Learn more about our retention and graduation rates

Undergraduate Admissions (Fall 2024)

  • Applicants: 8,366
  • Acceptance rate: 39%
  • Enrolled: 508

Undergraduate enrollment (full-time degree-seeking undergraduates in Fall 2024)

  • Enrollment: 2,207 (on-campus: 2,093; participating in an off-campus study program: 114)
  • Male: 50.2%; female: 49.8%
  • Domestic students of color: 21.3% (N=469)
  • International students: 14.1% (N=311)
  • Countries/Territories represented by international students: 64
  • States represented by domestic students: 40 states and the District of Columbia
  • Top five states of origin: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, and Connecticut
  • Among domestic students: 73 percent are out-of-state.
  • Pell Grant recipients: 23% (N=516)
  • First-generation college students: approximately 21%

Learn more about our student body

Graduate enrollment (Fall 2024)

  • Total Enrollment in the on-line master’s program in American History (offered in partnership with The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History): 713 (full-time: 7; part-time: 706)
  • Male: 48%; female: 52%

Alumni outcomes

2023 graduating class: 98 percent were employed or attending graduate school/pursuing further education within a year after graduating from Gettysburg.

Learn more about our alumni and outcomes

Teacher Certification

The College provides teacher certification opportunities. You can find out more from here.