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.
| College | Acceptance Rate |
|---|---|
|
Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan |
85% |
|
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo, Michigan |
85% |
|
University of Cincinnati Main Campus
Cincinnati, Ohio |
85% |
|
Ohio University Main Campus
Athens, Ohio |
85% |
|
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona |
86% |
|
University of Northern Colorado
Greeley, Colorado |
86% |
|
Gordon State College
Barnesville, Georgia |
86% |
|
University of Illinois Springfield
Springfield, Illinois |
86% |
|
Indiana University Kokomo
Kokomo, Indiana |
86% |
|
Murray State University
Murray, Kentucky |
86% |
|
Louisiana Tech University
Ruston, Louisiana |
86% |
|
Northwest Missouri State University
Maryville, Missouri |
86% |
|
CUNY Medgar Evers College
Brooklyn, New York |
86% |
|
Kent State University at Kent
Kent, Ohio |
86% |
|
Millersville University of Pennsylvania
Millersville, Pennsylvania |
86% |
|
Francis Marion University
Florence, South Carolina |
86% |
|
East Tennessee State University
Johnson City, Tennessee |
86% |
|
Lamar University
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.