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

Providence, Rhode Island

92%

Commerce, Texas

92%

Logan, Utah

92%

Stevens Point, Wisconsin

92%
93%
93%
93%

Rohnert Park, California

93%

Cedar Falls, Iowa

93%

Lawrence, Kansas

93%

Lexington, Kentucky

93%
93%

Jackson, Mississippi

93%

Pembroke, North Carolina

93%

Aberdeen, South Dakota

93%
93%

Bellingham, Washington

93%

Athens, West Virginia

93%

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.