United States Private Colleges Ranked by Lowest Acceptance Rate

Below is a ranking of the 1198 private colleges in the United States with the lowest acceptance rate for freshman undergraduate applications. California Institute of Technology leads the list by accepting 3% 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 United States Private Colleges Ranked by Lowest Acceptance Rate
College Acceptance Rate

Staten Island, New York

56%

New York, New York

56%

Delaware, Ohio

56%

Lancaster, Pennsylvania

56%

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

56%

Plainview, Texas

56%

Jacksonville, Florida

57%

Skokie, Illinois

57%

Lake Forest, Illinois

57%

Greencastle, Indiana

57%

Chestertown, Maryland

57%

Alma, Michigan

57%

Ridgeland, Mississippi

57%
57%

Saint Charles, Missouri

57%

Poughkeepsie, New York

57%

Sewanee, Tennessee

57%

Abilene, Texas

57%

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.