Pitt and other colleges across the country are receiving a boost in applications, though college enrollment numbers are not matching the increase.
The Pittsburgh campus has received more than 72,000 first-year applications for fall 2026 and applications have grown 149% since 2016, according to University spokesperson Jared Stonesifer. The final number of applications is fluid until the census date at the end of September, Stonesifer said.
In fall 2024, colleges received almost 54% more applications than a decade before, while overall enrollment only increased by 8%. This trend may be due to students applying to more schools rather than more students applying to schools.
In the past seven years, Pitt’s undergraduate applications have increased by 120%, and undergraduate enrollment increased by about 3% from fall of 2018 to 2025.
The increase in college student applications correlates to the influx of standardized test-optional policies since the COVID-19 pandemic and the use of the Common App, a platform that aims to simplify the college application process by centralizing application materials and allowing students to apply to multiple colleges from one platform. Prior to the Common App, students applied to each school individually.
Stonesifer said the majority of undergraduate applications to the Pittsburgh campus use the Common App.
“The Common Application reports that the number of schools that students are applying to has increased,” Stonesifer said.
According to Stonesifer, 50% of Pitt applicants shared their SAT/ACT test scores in their applications this year.
Teresa Ongoro, a first-year biology major, applied to 20 colleges.
“Pitt wasn’t exactly my top choice school but it was near the top, and I applied to some schools with my SAT/ACT but not all of them,” Ongoro said.
Ethan Nguyen, a first-year undeclared pre-med major, said tools like the Common App made it easier for him to apply to a larger number of colleges.
“I applied to around six schools with my SAT and Common App just had everything there,” Nguyen said. “It just made everything easier.”
In addition to the Common App, application fee waivers allowed Ongoro to apply to more colleges.
“A lot of schools were offering free applications so that honestly motivated me to apply to more schools,” Ongoro said.
Fee waivers are becoming more common as more schools and programs offer them to students. The National Association for College Admission Counseling, Common App and College Board offer application fee waivers to students with limited financial resources. Additionally, over 160 colleges did not have an application fee in 2025, a technique many colleges have started to implement to attract a more diverse applicant pool.
Nived Subhendu, a junior molecular biology major, applied to 14 colleges and said he believes fee waivers may contribute to increased college applications.
“In recent years applications are probably increasing, especially with fee waivers. It’s definitely easier to apply to more schools that way,” Subhendu said.
The increase in students’ anxiety over college admissions is also a motivator to apply to more colleges. Emilia Castellana, a graduate student in the Prosthetics and Orthotics masters program, said she applied to multiple schools due to uncertainty of the college application process.
“I would always apply to multiple [colleges] because you never know what’s going to happen, so it’s always good to have multiple choices,” Castallena said.
Aaron Wong, a first-year biology major, said he believes even people certain in a top-choice school still apply to multiple colleges as a precaution.
“Applying to more schools had more options and gave myself back ups, in case worse comes to worse,” Wong said. “Most people I talked to knew where they wanted to go but applied to more just in case.”