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 |
|---|---|
|
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah |
86% |
|
Christopher Newport University
Newport News, Virginia |
86% |
|
University of Wisconsin Whitewater
Whitewater, Wisconsin |
86% |
|
Augusta University
Augusta, Georgia |
86% |
|
University of North Alabama
Florence, Alabama |
87% |
|
Western Connecticut State University
Danbury, Connecticut |
87% |
|
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Honolulu, Hawaii |
87% |
|
Boise State University
Boise, Idaho |
87% |
|
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Carbondale, Illinois |
87% |
|
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Lafayette, Louisiana |
87% |
|
Salisbury University
Salisbury, Maryland |
87% |
|
Fitchburg State University
Fitchburg, Massachusetts |
87% |
|
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Omaha, Nebraska |
87% |
|
University of Nebraska Lincoln
Lincoln, Nebraska |
87% |
|
North Carolina Central University
Durham, North Carolina |
87% |
|
Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
Shippensburg, Pennsylvania |
87% |
|
The University of Texas at San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas |
87% |
|
George Mason University
Fairfax, Virginia |
87% |
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.