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

Demorest, Georgia

93%

River Forest, Illinois

93%

Rockford, Illinois

93%

New Orleans, Louisiana

93%

Saint Paul, Minnesota

93%
93%
93%

Rindge, New Hampshire

93%

Sparkill, New York

93%

Toledo, Ohio

93%

Doylestown, Pennsylvania

93%

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

93%

New Wilmington, Pennsylvania

93%

Arlington, Virginia

93%

Buckhannon, West Virginia

93%

Brookfield, Wisconsin

93%

Laguna Beach, California

94%

Atlanta, Georgia

94%

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.