United States Public Colleges Ranked by Highest Acceptance Rate

Below is a ranking of the 633 public colleges in the United States with the highest acceptance rate for freshman undergraduate applications. Athens State University leads the list by accepting 100% 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 Public Colleges Ranked by Highest Acceptance Rate
College	Acceptance Rate
Nicholls State University Thibodaux, Louisiana	91%
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth North Dartmouth, Massachusetts	91%
Ferris State University Big Rapids, Michigan	91%
Missouri State University Springfield Springfield, Missouri	91%
Montana Technological University Butte, Montana	91%
Cleveland State University Cleveland, Ohio	91%
Portland State University Portland, Oregon	91%
Indiana University of Pennsylvania Main Campus Indiana, Pennsylvania	91%
Kutztown University of Pennsylvania Kutztown, Pennsylvania	91%
University of Houston Clear Lake Houston, Texas	91%
Texas A&M University Kingsville Kingsville, Texas	91%
Central Washington University Ellensburg, Washington	91%
Eastern Washington University Cheney, Washington	91%
University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Milwaukee, Wisconsin	91%
University of Washington Bothell Campus Bothell, Washington	91%
University of California Merced Merced, California	91%
Arizona State University Tempe, Arizona	90%
Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, Arizona	90%

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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.