United States Private Colleges Ranked by Highest Acceptance Rate

Below is a ranking of the 1198 private colleges in the United States with the highest acceptance rate for freshman undergraduate applications. Amridge University leads the list by accepting 100% of high school students that applied.

Acceptance rate is a measure of the competitiveness of a school. Lower acceptance rates are more competitive and may require a higher GPA, SAT/ACT score, and other factors to be considered for admission.

List of United States Private Colleges Ranked by Highest Acceptance Rate
College	Acceptance Rate
Husson University Bangor, Maine	81%
Cornell College Mount Vernon, Iowa	80%
Northwestern College Orange City, Iowa	80%
Campbellsville University Campbellsville, Kentucky	80%
Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology Brookline, Massachusetts	80%
Creighton University Omaha, Nebraska	80%
Nebraska Wesleyan University Lincoln, Nebraska	80%
Colby Sawyer College New London, New Hampshire	80%
Mesivta Torah Vodaath Rabbinical Seminary Brooklyn, New York	80%
Guilford College Greensboro, North Carolina	80%
North Carolina Wesleyan University Rocky Mount, North Carolina	80%
Shaw University Raleigh, North Carolina	80%
Tiffin University Tiffin, Ohio	80%
New Hope Christian College Eugene Eugene, Oregon	80%
Arcadia University Glenside, Pennsylvania	80%
Seton Hill University Greensburg, Pennsylvania	80%
Ripon College Ripon, Wisconsin	80%
Johnson & Wales University Charlotte Charlotte, North Carolina	80%

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This list is updated annually based on the latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Last updated: March 15, 2026

Data source: IPEDS 2025 survey for academic year 2024/2025 - National Center for Education Statistics.