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
SUNY College of Technology at Alfred Alfred, New York	76%
Southeastern Oklahoma State University Durant, Oklahoma	76%
Tennessee Technological University Cookeville, Tennessee	76%
University of Wisconsin La Crosse La Crosse, Wisconsin	76%
Southern Arkansas University Main Campus Magnolia, Arkansas	75%
California State Polytechnic University Pomona Pomona, California	75%
University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus Denver, Colorado	75%
Georgia Southwestern State University Americus, Georgia	75%
Northeastern Illinois University Chicago, Illinois	75%
University of Minnesota Morris Morris, Minnesota	75%
Winona State University Winona, Minnesota	75%
Miami University Oxford Oxford, Ohio	75%
Oklahoma State University Main Campus Stillwater, Oklahoma	75%
Coastal Carolina University Conway, South Carolina	75%
University of Wisconsin Parkside Kenosha, Wisconsin	75%
University of Arkansas Fayetteville, Arkansas	74%
University of New Orleans New Orleans, Louisiana	74%
Southeast Missouri State University Cape Girardeau, Missouri	74%

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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.