New York Private Colleges Ranked by Highest Acceptance Rate

Below is a ranking of the 119 private colleges in New York with the highest acceptance rate for freshman undergraduate applications. Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology 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 New York Private Colleges Ranked by Highest Acceptance Rate
College	Acceptance Rate
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art New York, New York	21%
Skidmore College Saratoga Springs, New York	21%
Vassar College Poughkeepsie, New York	19%
Colgate University Hamilton, New York	14%
Hamilton College Clinton, New York	14%
Webb Institute Glen Cove, New York	14%
Barnard College New York, New York	9%
Cornell University Ithaca, New York	9%
The Juilliard School New York, New York	9%
New York University New York, New York	9%
Columbia University in the City of New York New York, New York	4%

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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.