Tennessee Private Colleges Ranked by Highest Acceptance Rate

Below is a ranking of the 34 private colleges in Tennessee with the highest acceptance rate for freshman undergraduate applications. American Baptist 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 Tennessee Private Colleges Ranked by Highest Acceptance Rate
College	Acceptance Rate
Tennessee Wesleyan University Athens, Tennessee	69%
Trevecca Nazarene University Nashville, Tennessee	69%
Lipscomb University Nashville, Tennessee	68%
Cumberland University Lebanon, Tennessee	67%
Johnson University Knoxville, Tennessee	65%
Southern Adventist University Collegedale, Tennessee	65%
Lincoln Memorial University Harrogate, Tennessee	63%
Maryville College Maryville, Tennessee	61%
Bethel University McKenzie, Tennessee	60%
Freed Hardeman University Henderson, Tennessee	60%
Union University Jackson, Tennessee	60%
The University of the South Sewanee, Tennessee	57%
Rhodes College Memphis, Tennessee	50%
Fisk University Nashville, Tennessee	37%
Visible Music College Memphis, Tennessee	28%
Vanderbilt University Nashville, Tennessee	6%

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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.