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
Rutgers University New Brunswick New Brunswick, New Jersey	58%
CUNY Brooklyn College Brooklyn, New York	58%
East Central University Ada, Oklahoma	58%
University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Campus Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	58%
Florida Polytechnic University Lakeland, Florida	58%
CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice New York, New York	57%
CUNY Lehman College Bronx, New York	57%
Texas A&M University College Station College Station, Texas	57%
University of Michigan Dearborn Dearborn, Michigan	56%
Bemidji State University Bemidji, Minnesota	56%
Florida International University Miami, Florida	55%
Georgia State University Atlanta, Georgia	55%
Virginia Tech Blacksburg, Virginia	55%
University of Montevallo Montevallo, Alabama	54%
Maine Maritime Academy Castine, Maine	54%
CUNY Hunter College New York, New York	54%
University of North Florida Jacksonville, Florida	53%
University of Connecticut Storrs, Connecticut	52%

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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.