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 |
|---|---|
|
Trevecca Nazarene University
Nashville, Tennessee |
69% |
|
Texas Wesleyan University
Fort Worth, Texas |
69% |
|
Florida College
Temple Terrace, Florida |
70% |
|
Ringling College of Art and Design
Sarasota, Florida |
70% |
|
Franklin College
Franklin, Indiana |
70% |
|
Indiana Institute of Technology
Fort Wayne, Indiana |
70% |
|
College of the Atlantic
Bar Harbor, Maine |
70% |
|
Merrimack College
North Andover, Massachusetts |
70% |
|
Regis College
Weston, Massachusetts |
70% |
|
Simmons University
Boston, Massachusetts |
70% |
|
Rockhurst University
Kansas City, Missouri |
70% |
|
Rocky Mountain College
Billings, Montana |
70% |
|
Bloomfield College of Montclair State University
Bloomfield, New Jersey |
70% |
|
Hartwick College
Oneonta, New York |
70% |
|
Greensboro College
Greensboro, North Carolina |
70% |
|
Capital University
Columbus, Ohio |
70% |
|
Lake Erie College
Painesville, Ohio |
70% |
|
Yeshiva of Machzikai Hadas
Brooklyn, New York |
70% |
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.