Kalshi Seeks Approval to Allow Betting on Columbia Admissions
Traders may soon place wagers on Columbia University’s undergraduate admissions rates and applicant totals through the prediction market app Kalshi. The platform filed notices with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on October 20, seeking approval to offer contracts for 22 top-tier universities covering the 2026-27 admissions cycle.
The proposed markets allow participants to bet on binary “yes or no” outcomes regarding whether specific admissions metrics—such as total applicant counts—will exceed, fall short of, or equal a predetermined threshold. According to the Columbia Spectator, the university’s own officers and employees, including student staff, are explicitly barred from participating in these specific prediction markets.
Kalshi has experienced rapid growth, reaching a $40 billion valuation following a recent $1 billion fundraising round. “College admission rates serve as a good window into broader economic health, human capital development, social mobility,” Kalshi spokesperson Elisabeth Diana told the Spectator. “If you step back and think about what prediction markets are doing, they’re trying to learn more about, take the wisdom of the crowds.”
The expansion into academic admissions data follows the release of the U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 Best National Universities list, where Columbia moved to the No. 12 spot. The university recently changed its admissions strategy to increase undergraduate enrollment. The class of 2030 was the first cohort admitted under a plan to add 125, 200, and then 250 students to the incoming classes at Columbia College and the School of Engineering and Applied Science. During the most recent cycle, the university processed 61,031 applicants and admitted 2,581 students, resulting in a 4.2 percent acceptance rate.
While Kalshi positions the move as an economic tracking tool, the platform has previously faced scrutiny regarding the nature of its trading activity. Critics have drawn parallels between its prediction markets and gambling, particularly following a controversy involving former congressman George Santos, who used the platform to bet on his own attendance at a State of the Union address.
A Columbia spokesperson declined to comment on Kalshi’s moves to allow traders to bet on admissions data.
For now, the ability to bet on Columbia’s admissions remains contingent on the federal regulatory process. Kalshi continues to promote the concept as a legitimate financial tool, with Diana noting, “People are actually putting money on the line about what they think will happen around certain important events. We think this serves as a good example of an important economic event that should be tracked.”
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