Ohio Private Colleges Ranked by Highest Acceptance Rate

Below is a ranking of the 59 private colleges in Ohio with the highest acceptance rate for freshman undergraduate applications. Allegheny Wesleyan College 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 Ohio Private Colleges Ranked by Highest Acceptance Rate
College	Acceptance Rate
Ohio Northern University Ada, Ohio	74%
Wittenberg University Springfield, Ohio	72%
Walsh University North Canton, Ohio	71%
Capital University Columbus, Ohio	70%
Lake Erie College Painesville, Ohio	70%
Columbus College of Art & Design Columbus, Ohio	68%
Bluffton University Bluffton, Ohio	67%
Cedarville University Cedarville, Ohio	65%
University of Dayton Dayton, Ohio	65%
Cleveland Institute of Art Cleveland, Ohio	61%
The College of Wooster Wooster, Ohio	60%
Mount St. Joseph University Cincinnati, Ohio	59%
Franciscan University of Steubenville Steubenville, Ohio	58%
Ohio Wesleyan University Delaware, Ohio	56%
Defiance College Defiance, Ohio	48%
Cleveland Institute of Music Cleveland, Ohio	47%
Wilberforce University Wilberforce, Ohio	41%
Ohio Christian University Circleville, Ohio	38%

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

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