New York Public Colleges Ranked by Lowest Acceptance Rate

Below is a ranking of the 41 public colleges in New York with the lowest acceptance rate for freshman undergraduate applications. United States Military Academy leads the list by accepting 12% 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 New York Public Colleges Ranked by Lowest Acceptance Rate
College	Acceptance Rate
CUNY Graduate School and University Center New York, New York	68%
University at Albany Albany, New York	69%
SUNY Oneonta Oneonta, New York	70%
SUNY Brockport Brockport, New York	71%
SUNY Maritime College Throggs Neck, New York	72%
SUNY Buffalo State University Buffalo, New York	73%
University at Buffalo Buffalo, New York	74%
SUNY at Purchase College Purchase, New York	74%
SUNY College of Technology at Alfred Alfred, New York	76%
SUNY at Fredonia Fredonia, New York	78%
SUNY College at Potsdam Potsdam, New York	78%
State University of New York at Plattsburgh Plattsburgh, New York	78%
CUNY New York City College of Technology Brooklyn, New York	80%
SUNY Polytechnic Institute Utica, New York	81%
State University of New York at Oswego Oswego, New York	81%
SUNY College of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill Cobleskill, New York	84%
SUNY Old Westbury Old Westbury, New York	84%
CUNY Medgar Evers College Brooklyn, New York	86%

Search and filter all 41 colleges

This list is updated annually based on the latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Last updated: March 15, 2026

Data source: IPEDS 2025 survey for academic year 2024/2025 - National Center for Education Statistics.