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
Fort Hays State University Hays, Kansas	90%
Haskell Indian Nations University Lawrence, Kansas	90%
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts North Adams, Massachusetts	90%
Central Michigan University Mount Pleasant, Michigan	90%
Mississippi University for Women Columbus, Mississippi	90%
Keene State College Keene, New Hampshire	90%
William Paterson University of New Jersey Wayne, New Jersey	90%
Appalachian State University Boone, North Carolina	90%
University of Houston Downtown Houston, Texas	90%
Sam Houston State University Huntsville, Texas	90%
Tarleton State University Stephenville, Texas	90%
Longwood University Farmville, Virginia	90%
Old Dominion University Norfolk, Virginia	90%
Radford University Radford, Virginia	90%
University of Central Arkansas Conway, Arkansas	89%
Colorado State University Fort Collins Fort Collins, Colorado	89%
Iowa State University Ames, Iowa	89%
Pittsburg State University Pittsburg, Kansas	89%

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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.