Most selective colleges (lowest acceptance rate)

Method notes

Underlying institution file: EDsmart Data processed College Scorecard extract merged to IPEDS 2023 directory for HBCU and Carnegie fields.
ROI column matches the processed college_roi_rankings series in this site build; see College Scorecard ROI methodology.
School profile links use generated slugs; not every campus has a published profile page yet—use the Scorecard site as fallback.

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Leaderboard

Rank	Institution	State	Control	Enrollment	Primary metric	Also see
1	California Institute of Technology	CA	Private nonprofit	987	2.6%	SAT —
2	Minerva University	CA	Private nonprofit	637	3.0%	SAT —
3	Stanford University	CA	Private nonprofit	7,554	3.6%	SAT 1553
4	Harvard University	MA	Private nonprofit	7,601	3.6%	SAT 1553
5	Yale University	CT	Private nonprofit	6,758	3.9%	SAT 1534
6	Columbia University in the City of New York	NY	Private nonprofit	8,973	4.0%	SAT 1553
7	University of Chicago	IL	Private nonprofit	7,569	4.5%	SAT 1554
8	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	MA	Private nonprofit	4,535	4.5%	SAT 1560
9	Princeton University	NJ	Private nonprofit	5,709	4.6%	SAT 1553
10	Northeastern University	MA	Private nonprofit	17,326	5.2%	SAT 1497
11	Brown University	RI	Private nonprofit	7,226	5.4%	SAT 1546
12	Dartmouth College	NH	Private nonprofit	4,541	5.4%	SAT 1534
13	University of Pennsylvania	PA	Private nonprofit	10,650	5.4%	SAT 1553
14	Duke University	NC	Private nonprofit	6,442	5.7%	SAT 1548
15	Vanderbilt University	TN	Private nonprofit	7,208	5.9%	SAT 1549
16	Johns Hopkins University	MD	Private nonprofit	5,693	6.4%	SAT 1553
17	Pomona College	CA	Private nonprofit	1,666	7.1%	SAT 1534
18	Colby College	ME	Private nonprofit	2,407	7.1%	SAT 1501
19	Bowdoin College	ME	Private nonprofit	1,873	7.1%	SAT 1520
20	Swarthmore College	PA	Private nonprofit	1,613	7.5%	SAT 1534
21	Northwestern University	IL	Private nonprofit	9,201	7.7%	SAT 1533
22	Rice University	TX	Private nonprofit	4,776	8.0%	SAT 1553
23	Williams College	MA	Private nonprofit	2,076	8.2%	SAT 1533
24	Cornell University	NY	Private nonprofit	15,995	8.8%	SAT 1535
25	Barnard College	NY	Private nonprofit	3,264	8.8%	SAT 1520
26	University of California-Los Angeles	CA	Public	33,475	9.0%	SAT —
27	Amherst College	MA	Private nonprofit	1,911	9.0%	SAT 1533
28	New York University	NY	Private nonprofit	28,663	9.2%	SAT 1520
29	United States Naval Academy	MD	Public	4,474	9.3%	SAT 1307
30	Claremont McKenna College	CA	Private nonprofit	1,388	9.6%	SAT 1527
31	University of Southern California	CA	Private nonprofit	20,443	9.8%	SAT 1495
32	Stanbridge University	CA	Private for-profit	2,643	10.0%	SAT —
33	Emory University	GA	Private nonprofit	7,298	10.7%	SAT 1520
34	Middlebury College	VT	Private nonprofit	2,738	10.8%	SAT 1508
35	University of California-Berkeley	CA	Public	33,068	11.0%	SAT —
36	Boston University	MA	Private nonprofit	18,248	11.1%	SAT 1480
37	University of Notre Dame	IN	Private nonprofit	8,818	11.3%	SAT 1520
38	Tufts University	MA	Private nonprofit	7,061	11.5%	SAT 1513
39	Carnegie Mellon University	PA	Private nonprofit	7,304	11.7%	SAT 1546
40	College of the Ozarks	MO	Private nonprofit	1,444	12.0%	SAT 1118
41	Washington University in St Louis	MO	Private nonprofit	7,857	12.1%	SAT 1530
42	Haverford College	PA	Private nonprofit	1,430	12.4%	SAT 1513
43	United States Military Academy	NY	Public	4,408	12.4%	SAT 1355
44	Harvey Mudd College	CA	Private nonprofit	921	12.7%	SAT 1545
45	Georgetown University	DC	Private nonprofit	7,569	12.9%	SAT 1487
46	Bates College	ME	Private nonprofit	1,760	13.3%	SAT 1468
47	Davidson College	NC	Private nonprofit	1,867	13.4%	SAT 1469
48	Hamilton College	NY	Private nonprofit	2,030	13.6%	SAT 1506
49	Colgate University	NY	Private nonprofit	3,180	13.9%	SAT 1508
50	Washington and Lee University	VA	Private nonprofit	1,881	14.0%	SAT 1498
51	Tulane University of Louisiana	LA	Private nonprofit	7,767	14.0%	SAT 1448
52	Wellesley College	MA	Private nonprofit	2,300	14.1%	SAT 1520
53	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus	GA	Public	18,785	14.1%	SAT 1480
54	United States Air Force Academy	CO	Public	4,114	14.1%	SAT 1350
55	Grinnell College	IA	Private nonprofit	1,729	14.5%	SAT 1486
56	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	NC	Public	20,752	15.3%	SAT 1439
57	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	MI	Public	34,177	15.6%	SAT 1465
58	Boston College	MA	Private nonprofit	10,085	16.4%	SAT 1507
59	Wesleyan University	CT	Private nonprofit	3,067	16.5%	SAT 1501
60	University of Virginia-Main Campus	VA	Public	17,597	16.8%	SAT 1480
61	Babson College	MA	Private nonprofit	2,728	17.1%	SAT 1457
62	Denison University	OH	Private nonprofit	2,380	17.4%	SAT 1410
63	College of the Holy Cross	MA	Private nonprofit	3,106	17.6%	SAT 1353
64	Colorado College	CO	Private nonprofit	2,014	18.5%	SAT 1365
65	Vassar College	NY	Private nonprofit	2,444	18.6%	SAT 1494
66	Rhode Island School of Design	RI	Private nonprofit	2,084	18.7%	SAT 1473
67	University of Miami	FL	Private nonprofit	12,913	18.9%	SAT 1415
68	Berea College	KY	Private nonprofit	1,513	19.3%	SAT 1249
69	Carleton College	MN	Private nonprofit	2,086	20.4%	SAT 1517
70	Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University	FL	Public	7,582	20.6%	SAT 1107
71	The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art	NY	Private nonprofit	842	20.7%	SAT 1410
72	Hillsdale College	MI	Private nonprofit	1,573	20.7%	SAT 1415
73	Smith College	MA	Private nonprofit	2,544	21.0%	SAT 1500
74	Skidmore College	NY	Private nonprofit	2,694	21.1%	SAT 1405
75	Wake Forest University	NC	Private nonprofit	5,485	21.7%	SAT 1475
76	University of Richmond	VA	Private nonprofit	2,980	22.2%	SAT 1497
77	United States Coast Guard Academy	CT	Public	1,108	22.4%	SAT 1339
78	Citadel Military College of South Carolina	SC	Public	2,705	22.7%	SAT 1208
79	Crown College	MN	Private nonprofit	796	22.8%	SAT —
80	University of Florida	FL	Public	35,629	24.2%	SAT 1403
81	Florida State University	FL	Public	32,212	24.2%	SAT 1361
82	Reed College	OR	Private nonprofit	1,320	24.6%	SAT 1437
83	Spelman College	GA	Private nonprofit	3,414	24.9%	SAT 1220
84	Pitzer College	CA	Private nonprofit	1,227	25.2%	SAT —
85	Trinity University	TX	Private nonprofit	2,505	25.9%	SAT 1416
86	Lehigh University	PA	Private nonprofit	5,898	25.9%	SAT 1440
87	Inter American University of Puerto Rico-Fajardo	PR	Private nonprofit	1,072	26.5%	SAT —
88	The University of Texas at Austin	TX	Public	42,855	26.6%	SAT 1395
89	University of California-San Diego	CA	Public	34,948	26.7%	SAT —
90	Villanova University	PA	Private nonprofit	6,938	27.0%	SAT 1460
91	Franklin and Marshall College	PA	Private nonprofit	1,799	28.2%	SAT 1392
92	Macalester College	MN	Private nonprofit	2,131	28.5%	SAT 1440
93	University of Virginia's College at Wise	VA	Public	1,101	28.5%	SAT 1050
94	University of California-Irvine	CA	Public	30,197	28.6%	SAT —
95	Bucknell University	PA	Private nonprofit	3,876	28.9%	SAT 1410
96	Mississippi Christian University	MS	Private nonprofit	2,518	29.1%	SAT 1090
97	Trinity College	CT	Private nonprofit	2,146	29.2%	SAT 1415
98	Bryn Mawr College	PA	Private nonprofit	1,359	29.4%	SAT 1396
99	University of North Carolina School of the Arts	NC	Public	945	30.0%	SAT 1260
100	Kenyon College	OH	Private nonprofit	1,732	31.0%	SAT 1429