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
Lander University Greenwood, South Carolina	81%
The University of Tennessee Chattanooga Chattanooga, Tennessee	81%
Arkansas State University Jonesboro, Arkansas	82%
Colorado Mesa University Grand Junction, Colorado	82%
Kansas State University Manhattan, Kansas	82%
Morgan State University Baltimore, Maryland	82%
Towson University Towson, Maryland	82%
Montana State University Bozeman, Montana	82%
Fayetteville State University Fayetteville, North Carolina	82%
Western Carolina University Cullowhee, North Carolina	82%
Southern Utah University Cedar City, Utah	82%
Vermont State University Randolph, Vermont	82%
University of Wisconsin Eau Claire Eau Claire, Wisconsin	82%
University of Wisconsin River Falls River Falls, Wisconsin	82%
Eastern Connecticut State University Willimantic, Connecticut	83%
University of Massachusetts Lowell Lowell, Massachusetts	83%
Grand Valley State University Allendale, Michigan	83%
South Carolina State University Orangeburg, South Carolina	83%

Search and filter all 633 colleges

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.