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.
| College | Acceptance Rate |
|---|---|
|
Webb Institute
Glen Cove, New York |
14% |
|
Washington and Lee University
Lexington, Virginia |
14% |
|
Harvey Mudd College
Claremont, California |
13% |
|
Georgetown University
Washington, District Of Columbia |
13% |
|
Bates College
Lewiston, Maine |
13% |
|
Davidson College
Davidson, North Carolina |
13% |
|
College of the Ozarks
Point Lookout, Missouri |
12% |
|
Washington University in St Louis
St. Louis, Missouri |
12% |
|
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
12% |
|
Haverford College
Haverford, Pennsylvania |
12% |
|
Emory University
Atlanta, Georgia |
11% |
|
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, Indiana |
11% |
|
Boston University
Boston, Massachusetts |
11% |
|
Tufts University
Medford, Massachusetts |
11% |
|
Middlebury College
Middlebury, Vermont |
11% |
|
Claremont McKenna College
Claremont, California |
10% |
|
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California |
10% |
|
Amherst College
Amherst, Massachusetts |
9% |
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.