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
Northwestern Oklahoma State University Alva, Oklahoma	65%
The University of Texas at Dallas Richardson, Texas	65%
University of Vermont Burlington, Vermont	65%
University of California Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, California	66%
Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, Florida	66%
Fort Valley State University Fort Valley, Georgia	66%
Rutgers University Camden Camden, New Jersey	66%
SUNY College at Geneseo Geneseo, New York	66%
University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma Chickasha, Oklahoma	66%
Lincoln University Lincoln University, Pennsylvania	66%
Indiana University East Richmond, Indiana	67%
University of South Carolina Upstate Spartanburg, South Carolina	67%
Clayton State University Morrow, Georgia	68%
Northern Kentucky University Highland Heights, Kentucky	68%
CUNY Graduate School and University Center New York, New York	68%
University of North Georgia Dahlonega, Georgia	68%
University of Alabama in Huntsville Huntsville, Alabama	69%
St. Mary's College of Maryland St. Mary's City, Maryland	69%

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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.