Ohio Private Colleges Ranked by Lowest Acceptance Rate

Below is a ranking of the 59 private colleges in Ohio with the lowest acceptance rate for freshman undergraduate applications. Denison University leads the list by accepting 17% 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 Ohio Private Colleges Ranked by Lowest Acceptance Rate
College	Acceptance Rate
Capital University Columbus, Ohio	70%
Lake Erie College Painesville, Ohio	70%
Walsh University North Canton, Ohio	71%
Wittenberg University Springfield, Ohio	72%
Lourdes University Sylvania, Ohio	74%
Ohio Northern University Ada, Ohio	74%
Gods Bible School and College Cincinnati, Ohio	75%
Ursuline College Pepper Pike, Ohio	75%
Ashland University Ashland, Ohio	76%
Baldwin Wallace University Berea, Ohio	76%
Malone University Canton, Ohio	76%
Kettering College Kettering, Ohio	77%
University of Mount Union Alliance, Ohio	78%
Marietta College Marietta, Ohio	79%
Tiffin University Tiffin, Ohio	80%
John Carroll University University Heights, Ohio	81%
Muskingum University New Concord, Ohio	82%
The University of Findlay Findlay, Ohio	83%

Search and filter all 59 colleges

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.