College Acceptance Rates

Acceptance rates for 1,000 U.S. colleges, with applicant and admission counts, yield, and five-year trends — straight from the federal IPEDS Admissions survey, fall 2023 cohort.

Colleges covered

1,000

National average

73%

Under 25%

101

What an acceptance rate actually tells you

An acceptance rate is simply the number of applicants a college admitted divided by the number who applied. A 20% rate means 20 of every 100 applicants received an offer.

It measures competition for places, not academic quality. A college can have a low rate because it is genuinely selective, or because it is small and well known. Read it alongside the test score ranges and what the college says it actually weighs in an application — both of which are on every page here.

Roughly 3,300 U.S. colleges have an open admissions policy and publish no rate at all: they admit every applicant meeting basic requirements, so there is no rate to report.

The 50 most selective colleges

Lowest acceptance rates, fall 2023

#	College	Applicants	Admitted	Acceptance
1	California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA	13,107	412	3.1%
2	Harvard University Cambridge, MA	56,937	1,965	3.5%
3	Minerva University San Francisco, CA	9,856	350	3.5%
4	Circle in the Square Theatre School New York, NY	1,114	42	3.8%
5	Stanford University Stanford, CA	53,733	2,099	3.9%
6	Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY	57,613	2,439	4.2%
7	Yale University New Haven, CT	51,803	2,332	4.5%
8	Princeton University Princeton, NJ	39,644	1,782	4.5%
9	Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA	26,904	1,274	4.7%
10	University of Chicago Chicago, IL	38,631	1,849	4.8%
11	Brown University Providence, RI	51,316	2,686	5.2%
12	Northeastern University Boston, MA	96,631	5,459	5.7%
13	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	59,465	3,489	5.9%
14	Dartmouth College Hanover, NH	28,841	1,797	6.2%
15	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN	45,313	2,844	6.3%
16	Pomona College Claremont, CA	12,121	819	6.8%
17	Duke University Durham, NC	46,365	3,145	6.8%
18	Colby College Waterville, ME	17,786	1,215	6.8%
19	Swarthmore College Swarthmore, PA	14,287	992	6.9%
20	Curtis Institute of Music Philadelphia, PA	446	31	7.0%
21	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	51,769	3,703	7.1%
22	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD	38,926	2,943	7.6%
23	Rice University Houston, TX	31,059	2,447	7.9%
24	Barnard College New York, NY	11,803	940	8.0%
25	Bowdoin College Brunswick, ME	10,966	879	8.0%
26	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	65,635	5,358	8.2%
27	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	145,903	12,736	8.7%
28	The Juilliard School New York, NY	2,020	181	9.0%
29	United States Naval Academy Annapolis, MD	14,727	1,379	9.4%
30	New York University New York, NY	113,578	10,693	9.4%
31	Amherst College Amherst, MA	12,727	1,250	9.8%
32	Williams College Williamstown, MA	11,465	1,145	10.0%
33	Pacific Oaks College Pasadena, CA	30	3	10%
34	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	80,808	8,094	10%
35	Tufts University Medford, MA	34,003	3,444	10%
36	Middlebury College Middlebury, VT	13,297	1,379	10%
37	Boston University Boston, MA	80,495	8,733	11%
38	Emory University Atlanta, GA	31,929	3,543	11%
39	Claremont McKenna College Claremont, CA	5,799	645	11%
40	Stanbridge University Irvine, CA	2,700	307	11%
41	Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA	33,707	3,843	11%
42	Washington University of Science and Technology Alexandria, VA	174	20	11%
43	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA	125,910	14,677	12%
44	Hamilton College Clinton, NY	9,643	1,135	12%
45	Colgate University Hamilton, NY	21,130	2,526	12%
46	Washington University in St Louis St. Louis, MO	32,240	3,855	12%
47	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	28,353	3,510	12%
48	Grinnell College Grinnell, IA	9,988	1,266	13%
49	Haverford College Haverford, PA	6,391	825	13%
50	Bates College Lewiston, ME	8,937	1,164	13%

By selectivity

How the colleges we cover break down

Very Selective

101

Under 25% of applicants admitted

Selective

203

25% to 50% admitted

Moderately Selective

533

50% to 75% admitted

Less Selective

163

75% or more admitted

All 1,000 colleges

Every college with a published acceptance rate, grouped by state and ordered most selective first

Alabama16most selective first

Alaska2most selective first

Arizona5most selective first

Arkansas13most selective first

California73most selective first

Colorado8most selective first

Connecticut13most selective first

Delaware3most selective first

District of Columbia6most selective first

Florida40most selective first

Guam1most selective first

Pacific Islands University39%

Hawaii2most selective first

Idaho3most selective first

Illinois37most selective first

Iowa15most selective first

Kansas11most selective first

Kentucky11most selective first

Louisiana14most selective first

Maine8most selective first

Maryland16most selective first

Massachusetts41most selective first

Minnesota19most selective first

Mississippi9most selective first

Missouri33most selective first

Montana3most selective first

Nebraska9most selective first

Nevada1most selective first

Chamberlain University-Nevada75%

New Hampshire2most selective first

New Jersey32most selective first

New Mexico5most selective first

New York116most selective first

North Carolina35most selective first

North Dakota6most selective first

Ohio43most selective first

Oklahoma10most selective first

Oregon12most selective first

Pennsylvania72most selective first

Puerto Rico23most selective first

Rhode Island8most selective first

South Dakota4most selective first

Texas35most selective first

Utah3most selective first

Vermont6most selective first

Washington9most selective first

West Virginia7most selective first

Wisconsin15most selective first

Common questions

Where does this data come from?

The U.S. Department of Education's IPEDS Admissions survey, fall 2023 entering class — the most recent year published by NCES. Applicant, admission and enrollment counts are reported by the colleges themselves.

Why does a college's rate differ from other sites?

Different sources use different cohort years. A rate quoted from College Scorecard may reflect a later or earlier entering class than the IPEDS figure shown here, which is why every number on these pages is labelled with its cohort year.

Why isn't every college listed?

Only colleges that do not have an open admissions policy report admissions data to IPEDS. Roughly 3,300 U.S. institutions admit all qualified applicants and therefore publish no acceptance rate.

What is a yield rate?

The share of admitted students who actually enrol. A college admitting 1,000 students of whom 200 enrol has a 20% yield. It reflects how often a college is a student's first choice.