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
University of North Carolina School of the Arts Winston Salem, North Carolina	30%
California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, California	31%
University of California Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, California	33%
United States Merchant Marine Academy Kings Point, New York	34%
William & Mary Williamsburg, Virginia	34%
Southern University and A & M College Baton Rouge, Louisiana	35%
San Diego State University San Diego, California	36%
Dickinson State University Dickinson, North Dakota	37%
West Virginia University Institute of Technology Beckley, West Virginia	37%
University of Georgia Athens, Georgia	38%
Clemson University Clemson, South Carolina	38%
Binghamton University Vestal, New York	39%
University of Washington Seattle Campus Seattle, Washington	39%
University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida	40%
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Pine Bluff, Arkansas	41%
University of California Davis Davis, California	42%
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign Champaign, Illinois	42%
North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, North Carolina	42%

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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.