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

East Lansing, Michigan

85%

Kalamazoo, Michigan

85%
85%
85%

Tucson, Arizona

86%
86%

Barnesville, Georgia

86%

Springfield, Illinois

86%

Kokomo, Indiana

86%

Murray, Kentucky

86%

Ruston, Louisiana

86%
86%

Brooklyn, New York

86%
86%

Millersville, Pennsylvania

86%

Florence, South Carolina

86%

Johnson City, Tennessee

86%

Beaumont, Texas

86%

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.