United States Public Colleges Ranked by Lowest Acceptance Rate

Below is a ranking of the 633 public colleges in the United States with the lowest acceptance rate for freshman undergraduate applications. University of California Los Angeles leads the list by accepting 9% 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 Lowest Acceptance Rate
College	Acceptance Rate
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%
SUNY College at Potsdam Potsdam, New York	78%
State University of New York at Plattsburgh Plattsburgh, New York	78%
Winston Salem State University Winston-Salem, North Carolina	78%
University of Central Oklahoma Edmond, Oklahoma	78%
West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester, Pennsylvania	78%
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%

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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.