What are the colleges with lowest acceptance rates? Here is a list of 100 colleges and universities in the U.S. that had the lowest acceptance rates for student applicants in 2021. All data comes from individual school websites. Did you search for information on good colleges with high acceptance rates recently? Do you find it difficult to sort out the conflicting information online about what university has the highest acceptance rate? Our list features the best colleges with lowest acceptance rates where students get the most for their tuition dollar. We also include rankings by location and school type (liberal arts, technical, or professional) plus we rank the top 200 colleges based on affordability and career placement rate.

This article provides you with the answers to both of these questions in one place. Read on to get the latest information on best lowest acceptance rate university in USA, best liberal arts colleges with high acceptance rates, best engineering colleges with high acceptance rates, best online colleges with high acceptance rates and best colleges with high acceptance rates. You will find more up to date information on collegelearners. Get the facts on which colleges want you. We’ve listed the top 100 colleges with high acceptance rates so you can see how chances of getting into a college compare to others.

If you’re a college student, you’ve probably been told that your chances of getting into the best schools are slim to none. You might have even been told to lower your standards and apply to a school simply because it will be easy for you to get in. That’s not really something we’d recommend though. It’s better to spend your energy figuring out where you really want to go to school – and then apply there! By carefully researching prospective colleges, you give yourself the best chance at getting accepted somewhere that fits YOU, and not just a place with an easy acceptance rate. The following schools are some of the ones

Waiting for acceptance letters to arrive can be a stressful time for prospective college students. Whether applicants see “Congratulations!” or “We regret to inform you” can depend on the schools to which they applied. While some colleges and universities pride themselves on selectivity, others welcome most, if not all, of their applicants. The 100 schools on this list had the lowest to highest acceptance rates for the fall 2021 entering class among all schools that U.S. News surveyed, regardless of ranking category.

Colleges With Lowest Acceptance rates

School Name	Acceptance Rate
Curtis Institute of Music Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	4.2%
Stanford University Stanford, California	4.8%
Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts	5.4%
Juilliard School New York City, New York	6.2%
Yale University New Haven, Connecticut	6.3%
Princeton University Princeton, New Jersey	6.5%
Columbia University New York City, New York	6.8%
Alice Lloyd College Pippa Passes, Kentucky	7.1%
University of Chicago Chicago, Illinois	7.9%
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Cambridge, Massachusetts	7.9%
California Institute of Technology Pasadena, California	8.1%
United States Naval Academy Annapolis, Maryland	9%
Brown University Providence, Rhode Island	9.3%
Pomona College Claremont, California	9.4%

University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	9.4%
Claremont McKenna College Claremont, California	9.4%
United States Military Academy West Point, New York	10%
Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering Needham, Massachusetts	10.2%
Dartmouth College Hanover, New Hampshire	10.6%
Northwestern University Evanston, Illinois	10.7%
Vanderbilt University Nashville, Tennessee	10.7%
Duke University Durham, North Carolina	10.8%

Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, Maryland	12.8%
Harvey Mudd College Claremont, California	12.9%
Pitzer College Claremont, California	13.7%
Amherst College Amherst, Massachusetts	13.7%
Cornell University Ithaca, New York	14.1%
College of the Ozarks Point Lookout, Missouri	14.2%
Bowdoin College Brunswick, Maine	14.8%
Cooper Union New York City, New York	15.1%

Rice University Houston, Texas	15.1%
University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, California	16%
Mississippi Valley State University Itta Bena, Mississippi	16.2%
United States Air Force Academy USAF, Colorado	16.6%
Swarthmore College Swarthmore, Pennsylvania	17%
Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, Missouri	17.1%
Middlebury College > Middlebury, Vermont	17.3%
Tufts University Medford, Massachusetts	17.3%
Georgetown University Washington, DC	17.4%
Rust College Holly Springs, Mississippi	17.6%

Colorado College Colorado Springs, Colorado	18%
University of Southern California Los Angeles, California	18%
United States Coast Guard Academy New London, Connecticut	18.1%
University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) Los Angeles, California	18.5%
Williams College Williamstown, Massachusetts	19.4%
Washington and Lee University Lexington, Virginia	19.6%
Liberty University Lynchburg, Virginia	20.3%
Florida Memorial University Miami, Florida	20.5%
University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, Indiana	21.5%
Davidson College Davidso, North Carolina	21.7%

Missouri Valley College Marshall, Missouri	22.2%
United States Merchant Marine Academy Kings Point, New York	22.4%
Carleton College Northfield, Minnesota	22.8%
Vassar College Poughkeepsie, New York	23.5%
Barnard College New York, New York	23.7%
Wesleyan University Middletown, Connecticut	23.9%
Fort Valley State University Fort Valley, Georgia	24.2%
Art Academy of Cincinnati Cincinnati, Ohio	24.3%
Robert Morris University Chicago, Illinois	24.4%
Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	24.6%

Haverford College Haverford, Pennsylvania	24.7%
Kenyon College Gambier, Ohio	25.1%
Bates College Lewiston, Maine	25.4%
Jackson State University Jackson, Mississippi	26.1%
Colgate University Hamilton, New York	26.1%
Warner University Lake Wales, Florida	26.2%
Babson College Wellesley, Massachusetts	26.4%
Hamilton College Clinton, New York	26.4%
Emory University Atlanta, Georgia	26.8%

Lincoln University Lincoln University, Pennsylvania	27.1%
Edward Waters College Jacksonville, Florida	27.3%
Scripps College Claremont, California	27.4%
California Institute of Arts Valencia, California	27.7%
CUNY–Baruch College New York City, New York	28%
Grinnell College Grinnell, Iowa	28%
Tulane University New Orleans, Los Angeles	28%
Colby College Waterville, Maine	28.1%
College of New Rochelle New Rochelle, New York	28.5%

University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, North Carolina	28.5%
CUNY–Lehman College Bronx, New York	29%
University of Virginia Charlottesville, Virginia	29%
Hampton University Hampton, Virginia	29.1%
Lafayette College Easton, Pennsylvania	29.8%
Chicago State University Chicago, Illinois	30%
Calumet College of St. Joseph Whiting, Indiana	30.3%
Wellesley College Wellesley, Massachusetts	30.5%
Bucknell University Lewisburg, Pennsylvania	30.7%
California Polytechnic State University–San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, California	30.9%

Hope International University Fullerton, California	31%
Wilson College Chambersburg, Pennsylvania	31.4%
Southwestern Adventist University Keene, Texas	31.5%
University of Richmond University of Richmond, Virginia	31.9%
Northeastern University Boston, Massachusetts	32%
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, Michigan	32.3%
Ohio Valley University Vienna, West Virginia	32.5%
Oberlin College Oberlin, Ohio	32.7%
College of William and Mary Williamsburg, Virginia	33%
Trinity College Hartford, Connecticut	33%
Webb Institute Glen Cove, New York	33%

Top 25 Best Colleges with Lowest Acceptance Rates

There’s a common misconception that a college having a high acceptance rate automatically makes it “less good.” Or that a low acceptance rate equates directly to quality. Neither is necessarily the case. There are plenty of schools with high acceptance rates that offer a fantastic, high quality education. 

And that’s exactly why we’ve made this list, to highlight some of the best colleges in the country that have high acceptance rates. For this list, we looked within College Raptor’s top 500 overall rankings and sorted them by who had the highest acceptance rates. How do you find colleges with 20 – 40% acceptance rate? If you want to be accepted to a certain school, the percentage of students accepted to that school is one important factor. The Overall Popularity Rating lets you see how many high school seniors applied there last year. The Graduation Rate shows what percent of students return for their second year.

Check out the list below, and maybe even consider applying to a few!

1. Covenant College

The average ACT and SAT scores of students accepted into Covenant College range from 23–30 and 1,120–1,350 respectively. Popular majors at the school include English, Biology, and Psychology. Outside the classroom, Covenant college competes as the Scots. They have nearly 230 student athletes.

Location Lookout Mountain, GA

Institution Type Private

Student Enrollment 1,046

2. Maryville University of Saint Louis

Class sizes at this university are relatively larger, with 14 students for every 1 faculty member. Many of these classrooms will be training students in Maryville’s most popular major: Nursing. Besides academics, the university offers a number of sports including soccer, track, tennis, softball, and wrestling.

Location Saint Louis, MO

Institution Type Private

Student Enrollment 9,139

3 Houghton College

This school has colors of purple and gold, and students are known as the Highlanders. Their mascot, Luckey, cheers on over 240 student athletes as they compete in NCAA Division III (without football) sports. The college has many notable alumni, including professors, politicians, and business leaders, and more.

Location Houghton, NY

Institution Type Private

Student Enrollment 1,001

4 University of Kentucky

This university has a motto of “United We Stand, Divided We Fall.” The students go by the nickname of the Wildcats, with their mascot fittingly being Scratch the Wildcat. The almost 500 student athletes can be seen sporting school colors of blue and white at competitions. UK has a first year retention rate of 85%.

Location Lexington, KY

Institution Type Public

Student Enrollment 29,182

5 Loyola University New Orleans

At Loyola University’s New Orleans branch, 99% of the student body receives grant aid. Popular majors include Psychology, Music Management, Business and Public Relations. The student to faculty ratio is 12 students for every 1 faculty member. Their mascot is Havoc T. Wolf, and students compete as the Wolf Pack.

Location New Orleans, LA

Institution Type Private

Student Enrollment 4,261

6 Kansas State University

KSU has only one school color: royal purple. The school has a motto of “Rule by Obeying Nature’s Laws.” Perhaps this ideal is why the university’s most popular majors are mainly science based, such as Animal Science, Human Development and Kinesiology.

Location Manhattan, KS

Institution Type Public

Student Enrollment 22,221

7 University of Kansas

Over 500 students compete as athletes for this university, wearing the school colors of crimson and blue. Popular majors at the school include Journalism, Psychology and Accounting. The university has many notable alumni, including Fulbright scholars, NASA astronauts, and Nobel Prize laureates.

Location Lawrence, KS Institution

Type Public

Student Enrollment27,690

8 University of Alabama at Birmingham

The majority of first-year students attending this university are from the southern region of the United States. Students go by the nickname of the Blazers, and their mascot is Blaze the Dragon. The official school colors are green, white and gold. UAB tends to have larger class sizes, with a 19:1 student-to-faculty ratio.Location

Birmingham,

ALInstitution

Type Public

Student Enrollment21,923

9 Principia College

Principia College’s motto is “As the Sowing, The Reaping.” The school’s colors are blue and gold. Principia College is nonselective, with a 92% acceptance rate. The college offers a range of majors and programs. The most popular ones include Education, Business Administration and Management, and Mass Communication/Media Studies.

Location Elsah,

IL Institution Type

Private Student Enrollment 447

10 Iowa State University

Cy the Cardinal is the mascot of Iowa State University. With over 400 athletes, Iowa State is notably in the Big 12 athletics conference and a member of the NCAA Division I. Besides athletics, the school is also known for its engineering programs. The most popular majors are Mechanical Engineering, Kinesiology, and Marketing.

Location Ames,

IAInstitution

Type Public

Student Enrollment 34,992