California Private Colleges Ranked by Lowest Acceptance Rate

Below is a ranking of the 100 private colleges in California 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 California Private Colleges Ranked by Lowest Acceptance Rate
College	Acceptance Rate
University of La Verne La Verne, California	71%
University of the Pacific Stockton, California	71%
Mount Saint Mary's University Los Angeles, California	73%
Biola University La Mirada, California	74%
Art Center College of Design Pasadena, California	75%
California Lutheran University Thousand Oaks, California	76%
Southern California Institute of Architecture Los Angeles, California	77%
Westmont College Santa Barbara, California	77%
John Paul the Great Catholic University Escondido, California	80%
Whittier College Whittier, California	81%
Otis College of Art and Design Los Angeles, California	82%
Woodbury University Burbank, California	82%
Dominican University of California San Rafael, California	83%
University of Redlands Redlands, California	83%
Thomas Aquinas College Santa Paula, California	83%
The Master's University and Seminary Santa Clarita, California	84%
Point Loma Nazarene University San Diego, California	84%
California Baptist University Riverside, California	85%

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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.