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.
| College | Acceptance Rate |
|---|---|
|
Milwaukee School of Engineering
Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
59% |
|
University of the Ozarks
Clarksville, Arkansas |
60% |
|
University of New Haven
West Haven, Connecticut |
60% |
|
Emmaus Bible College
Dubuque, Iowa |
60% |
|
Hult International Business School
Cambridge, Massachusetts |
60% |
|
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Worcester, Massachusetts |
60% |
|
Tougaloo College
Tougaloo, Mississippi |
60% |
|
William Carey University
Hattiesburg, Mississippi |
60% |
|
Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem of America
New York, New York |
60% |
|
The College of Wooster
Wooster, Ohio |
60% |
|
Bethel University
McKenzie, Tennessee |
60% |
|
Freed Hardeman University
Henderson, Tennessee |
60% |
|
Union University
Jackson, Tennessee |
60% |
|
United States Sports University
Daphne, Alabama |
61% |
|
Kentucky Christian University
Grayson, Kentucky |
61% |
|
Gustavus Adolphus College
Saint Peter, Minnesota |
61% |
|
Touro University
New York, New York |
61% |
|
Cleveland Institute of Art
Cleveland, Ohio |
61% |
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.