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

Elon, North Carolina

66%

Bartlesville, Oklahoma

66%
66%

Decatur, Illinois

67%
67%

Rochester, New York

67%

Bluffton, Ohio

67%

Eugene, Oregon

67%

East Greenwich, Rhode Island

67%

Tigerville, South Carolina

67%

Lebanon, Tennessee

67%

Brownwood, Texas

67%

Salt Lake City, Utah

67%

Craftsbury Common, Vermont

67%

Waukesha, Wisconsin

67%

Berkeley, California

67%

Arkadelphia, Arkansas

68%

Atherton, California

68%

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.