College acceptance rates by state
The average undergraduate acceptance rate for every U.S. state, with the most selective school in each. States with open-admission public universities average higher; states with clusters of elite privates sit lower. Click a state to browse every school in it.
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Every state at a glance
Averages are unweighted across the 1,094 schools in the database. Updated July 2026.
Alabama22 schools
72%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Oakwood University (45%)
Alaska2 schools
70%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Alaska Anchorage (65%)
Arizona8 schools
78%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Benedictine University at Mesa (65%)
Arkansas18 schools
71%avg. acceptance
Most selective: University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (41%)
California61 schools
66%avg. acceptance
Most selective: California Institute of Technology (3%)
Colorado16 schools
77%avg. acceptance
Most selective: U.S. Air Force Academy (14%)
Connecticut13 schools
53%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Yale University (4%)
Delaware4 schools
68%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Delaware State University (47%)
Florida37 schools
61%avg. acceptance
Most selective: University of Miami (19%)
Georgia35 schools
69%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Emory University (11%)
Hawaii4 schools
81%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Hawaii Hilo (61%)
Idaho6 schools
77%avg. acceptance
Most selective: College of Idaho (49%)
Illinois37 schools
67%avg. acceptance
Most selective: University of Chicago (4%)
Indiana40 schools
77%avg. acceptance
Most selective: University of Notre Dame (11%)
Iowa21 schools
75%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Grinnell College (15%)
Kansas25 schools
78%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Sterling College (48%)
Kentucky23 schools
78%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Berea College (19%)
Louisiana19 schools
72%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Tulane University (14%)
Maine4 schools
31%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Bowdoin College (7%)
Maryland17 schools
64%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Johns Hopkins University (6%)
Massachusetts36 schools
49%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Harvard University (4%)
Michigan32 schools
72%avg. acceptance
Most selective: University of Michigan (16%)
Minnesota23 schools
70%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Carleton College (20%)
Mississippi14 schools
70%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Mississippi College (29%)
Missouri35 schools
69%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Washington University in St. Louis (12%)
Montana9 schools
79%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Providence University (MT) (65%)
Nebraska14 schools
76%avg. acceptance
Most selective: College of Saint Mary (NE) (45%)
Nevada2 schools
85%avg. acceptance
Most selective: University of Nevada, Reno (74%)
New Hampshire7 schools
77%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Dartmouth College (5%)
New Jersey20 schools
71%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Princeton University (5%)
New Mexico7 schools
79%avg. acceptance
Most selective: University of the Southwest (65%)
New York59 schools
61%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Columbia University (4%)
North Carolina38 schools
68%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Duke University (6%)
North Dakota8 schools
75%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Dickinson State University (37%)
Ohio45 schools
71%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Denison University (17%)
Oklahoma22 schools
75%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Oklahoma Baptist University (49%)
Oregon15 schools
86%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Bushnell University (67%)
Pennsylvania62 schools
69%avg. acceptance
Most selective: University of Pennsylvania (5%)
Rhode Island7 schools
63%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Brown University (5%)
South Carolina32 schools
72%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Clemson University (38%)
South Dakota10 schools
82%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Mount Marty University (43%)
Tennessee33 schools
69%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Vanderbilt University (6%)
Texas53 schools
73%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Rice University (8%)
Utah7 schools
84%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Westminster University (UT) (67%)
Vermont4 schools
59%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Middlebury College (11%)
Virginia28 schools
71%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Washington and Lee University (14%)
Washington15 schools
79%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Whitman College (38%)
Washington, D.C.6 schools
53%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Georgetown University (13%)
West Virginia15 schools
85%avg. acceptance
Most selective: Bethany College (WV) (59%)
Wisconsin23 schools
79%avg. acceptance
Most selective: University of Wisconsin (45%)
Wyoming1 school
97%avg. acceptance
Most selective: University of Wyoming (97%)
Source: U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS), NCES, and publicly reported Common Data Sets. Averages cover schools in the CollegeCalcAI database and are unweighted by enrollment.