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 |
|---|---|
|
Prescott College
Prescott, Arizona |
95% |
|
Mitchell College
New London, Connecticut |
95% |
|
Paine College
Augusta, Georgia |
95% |
|
Benedictine University
Lisle, Illinois |
95% |
|
National Louis University
Chicago, Illinois |
95% |
|
Marian University
Indianapolis, Indiana |
95% |
|
Midway University
Midway, Kentucky |
95% |
|
Maryville University of Saint Louis
Saint Louis, Missouri |
95% |
|
Fairleigh Dickinson University Florham Campus
Madison, New Jersey |
95% |
|
Rabbinical College of America
Morristown, New Jersey |
95% |
|
Herzing University Akron
Akron, Ohio |
95% |
|
Belmont University
Nashville, Tennessee |
95% |
|
Bolivar Technical College
Bolivar, Missouri |
95% |
|
Alaska Pacific University
Anchorage, Alaska |
96% |
|
Life Pacific University
San Dimas, California |
96% |
|
San Francisco Bay University
Fremont, California |
96% |
|
University of Hartford
West Hartford, Connecticut |
96% |
|
Brewton Parker College
Mount Vernon, Georgia |
96% |
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.