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

Dalton, Georgia

100%

Savannah, Georgia

100%
100%

Pocatello, Idaho

100%

Vincennes, Indiana

100%

Topeka, Kansas

100%
100%
100%
100%

Baltimore, Maryland

100%

Sault Ste Marie, Michigan

100%

Cleveland, Mississippi

100%

Saint Louis, Missouri

100%

Jefferson City, Missouri

100%

Saint Joseph, Missouri

100%
100%
100%
100%

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.