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.
| College | Acceptance Rate |
|---|---|
|
University of Northern Colorado
Greeley, Colorado |
86% |
|
Gordon State College
Barnesville, Georgia |
86% |
|
University of Illinois Springfield
Springfield, Illinois |
86% |
|
Indiana University Kokomo
Kokomo, Indiana |
86% |
|
Murray State University
Murray, Kentucky |
86% |
|
Louisiana Tech University
Ruston, Louisiana |
86% |
|
Northwest Missouri State University
Maryville, Missouri |
86% |
|
CUNY Medgar Evers College
Brooklyn, New York |
86% |
|
Kent State University at Kent
Kent, Ohio |
86% |
|
Millersville University of Pennsylvania
Millersville, Pennsylvania |
86% |
|
Francis Marion University
Florence, South Carolina |
86% |
|
East Tennessee State University
Johnson City, Tennessee |
86% |
|
Lamar University
Beaumont, Texas |
86% |
|
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah |
86% |
|
Christopher Newport University
Newport News, Virginia |
86% |
|
University of Wisconsin Whitewater
Whitewater, Wisconsin |
86% |
|
Augusta University
Augusta, Georgia |
86% |
|
San Jose State University
San Jose, California |
85% |
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.