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

Superior, Wisconsin

93%

Bakersfield, California

94%

San Bernardino, California

94%
94%

Wichita, Kansas

94%

Bowling Green, Kentucky

94%

Wichita Falls, Texas

94%
94%
94%
94%
95%
95%
95%
95%

Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts

95%

Saint Cloud, Minnesota

95%

Albuquerque, New Mexico

95%
95%

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.