California Private Colleges Ranked by Highest Acceptance Rate

Below is a ranking of the 100 private colleges in California with the highest acceptance rate for freshman undergraduate applications. Bethesda 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 California Private Colleges Ranked by Highest Acceptance Rate
College	Acceptance Rate
Life Pacific University San Dimas, California	96%
San Francisco Bay University Fremont, California	96%
Laguna College of Art and Design Laguna Beach, California	94%
William Jessup University Rocklin, California	93%
California College of the Arts San Francisco, California	91%
La Sierra University Riverside, California	91%
Berkeley School of Theology Berkeley, California	89%
Azusa Pacific University Azusa, California	88%
Saint Mary's College of California Moraga, California	87%
Simpson University Redding, California	86%
California Baptist University Riverside, California	85%
The Master's University and Seminary Santa Clarita, California	84%
Point Loma Nazarene University San Diego, California	84%
Dominican University of California San Rafael, California	83%
University of Redlands Redlands, California	83%
Thomas Aquinas College Santa Paula, California	83%
Otis College of Art and Design Los Angeles, California	82%
Woodbury University Burbank, California	82%

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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.