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
The University of Tennessee Martin Martin, Tennessee	88%
Norfolk State University Norfolk, Virginia	88%
University of Wisconsin Stout Menomonie, Wisconsin	88%
University of Connecticut Avery Point Groton, Connecticut	88%
University of Connecticut Hartford Campus Hartford, Connecticut	88%
University of Central Arkansas Conway, Arkansas	89%
Colorado State University Fort Collins Fort Collins, Colorado	89%
Iowa State University Ames, Iowa	89%
Pittsburg State University Pittsburg, Kansas	89%
Frostburg State University Frostburg, Maryland	89%
University of Minnesota Duluth Duluth, Minnesota	89%
University of Nebraska at Kearney Kearney, Nebraska	89%
Stockton University Galloway, New Jersey	89%
New Mexico State University Main Campus Las Cruces, New Mexico	89%
SUNY College of Technology at Delhi Delhi, New York	89%
East Carolina University Greenville, North Carolina	89%
University of North Carolina at Greensboro Greensboro, North Carolina	89%
Southern Oregon University Ashland, Oregon	89%

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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.