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

Hampton, Virginia

62%

Seattle, Washington

62%

Charleston, West Virginia

62%

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

62%

Batesville, Arkansas

63%

Conway, Arkansas

63%

Malibu, California

63%

Young Harris, Georgia

63%

Rock Island, Illinois

63%

Carlinville, Illinois

63%

Crawfordsville, Indiana

63%

Wilmore, Kentucky

63%

Barbourville, Kentucky

63%

Livonia, Michigan

63%

Moorhead, Minnesota

63%

Orangeburg, New York

63%

New York, New York

63%
63%

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.