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
University of Mary Washington Fredericksburg, Virginia	80%
University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky	79%
Southern University at New Orleans New Orleans, Louisiana	79%
University of Southern Maine Portland, Maine	79%
University of Baltimore Baltimore, Maryland	79%
University of South Carolina Aiken Aiken, South Carolina	79%
Winthrop University Rock Hill, South Carolina	79%
Prairie View A & M University Prairie View, Texas	79%
Jacksonville State University Jacksonville, Alabama	78%
University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, Colorado	78%
Georgia College & State University Milledgeville, Georgia	78%
Indiana University Bloomington Bloomington, Indiana	78%
Eastern Kentucky University Richmond, Kentucky	78%
McNeese State University Lake Charles, Louisiana	78%
Mississippi State University Mississippi State, Mississippi	78%
University of Missouri Columbia Columbia, Missouri	78%
Rowan University Glassboro, New Jersey	78%
SUNY at Fredonia Fredonia, New York	78%

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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.