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
Purdue University Main Campus West Lafayette, Indiana	50%
Louisiana State University Shreveport Shreveport, Louisiana	51%
University of Connecticut Storrs, Connecticut	52%
University of West Georgia Carrollton, Georgia	52%
University of North Florida Jacksonville, Florida	53%
University of Montevallo Montevallo, Alabama	54%
Maine Maritime Academy Castine, Maine	54%
CUNY Hunter College New York, New York	54%
Florida International University Miami, Florida	55%
Georgia State University Atlanta, Georgia	55%
Virginia Tech Blacksburg, Virginia	55%
University of Michigan Dearborn Dearborn, Michigan	56%
Bemidji State University Bemidji, Minnesota	56%
CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice New York, New York	57%
CUNY Lehman College Bronx, New York	57%
Texas A&M University College Station College Station, Texas	57%
Alabama A & M University Normal, Alabama	58%
University of West Florida Pensacola, Florida	58%

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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.