Schools Ranked by Acceptance Rate

A college’s overall quality and prestige is in part determined by its selectivity, of which acceptance rate is an indicator. The acceptance rate figures are provided by the College Navigator database, a tool offered by the U.S. Department of Education. The data is for the fall 2011 entering undergraduate class.

College Navigator did not have acceptance rate figures for all of the colleges on our list. We did not, however, want to penalize those colleges without data. To that end, we simply excluded those schools from the rankings in this category.

Rank School FT to PT
Faculty Ratio		 Institution
Fin. Aid Rate		 Acceptance Rate Retention Rate Graduation Rate Accred.
Years		 Default
Rate		 Job Place. Rate  
301 Anderson University 0.56 to 1 100% 73% 72% 48% 53 8% N/A  
301 DeSales University 0.49 to 1 98% 73% 81% 69% 42 3% N/A  
301 Goucher College 1.72 to 1 77% 73% 81% 70% 91 3% N/A  
301 John Brown University 0.64 to 1 96% 73% 78% 66% 50 3% N/A  
301 Michigan State University 6.69 to 1 39% 73% 91% 77% 97 4% 96%  
301 Rider University 0.73 to 1 96% 73% 82% 63% 57 7% N/A  
301 The University of Tennessee-Martin 1.35 to 1 55% 73% 73% 48% 61 16% N/A  
301 University of Northern Colorado 2.58 to 1 74% 73% 70% 46% 96 8% N/A  
309 California Baptist University 1.08 to 1 50% 74% 77% 55% 51 8% N/A  
309 California State University-Northridge 0.87 to 1 51% 74% 75% 46% 52 9% N/A  
309 Eastern Oregon University 7.93 to 1 61% 74% 72% 32% 81 10% N/A  
309 Eastern University 0.40 to 1 93% 74% 80% 66% 58 6% N/A  
309 Galen College of Nursing-Louisville 1.26 to 1 0% 74% N/A 79% 29 17% N/A  
309 Judson College 1.80 to 1 96% 74% 65% 38% 87 5% N/A  
309 Lasell College 0.54 to 1 82% 74% 64% 47% 80 7% N/A  
309 Michigan Technological University 4.41 to 1 92% 74% 83% 65% 84 3% N/A  
309 Plymouth State University 0.83 to 1 57% 74% 74% 59% 57 4% N/A  
309 Queens University of Charlotte 0.80 to 1 93% 74% 70% 60% 80 8% N/A  
309 Roosevelt University 0.51 to 1 91% 74% 65% 46% 66 6% N/A  
309 Southern Polytechnic State University 2.14 to 1 1% 74% 76% 32% 48 11% N/A  
309 Spring Arbor University 0.29 to 1 100% 74% 74% 56% 52 6% N/A  
309 SUNY College of Technology at Canton 1.29 to 1 34% 74% 75% 35% 60 15% N/A  
309 Union College 2.40 to 1 100% 74% 56% 32% 80 10% N/A  
309 Valparaiso University 2.18 to 1 98% 74% 81% 71% 83 4% N/A  
309 Vanguard University of Southern California 0.45 to 1 95% 74% 75% 55% 48 5% N/A  
326 Cedarville University 2.21 to 1 77% 75% 85% 68% 37 2% N/A  
326 Edinboro University of Pennsylvania 4.54 to 1 14% 75% 73% 51% 63 8% N/A  
326 Husson University 11.22 to 1 81% 75% 74% 38% 38 12% N/A  
326 Macon State College 1.48 to 1 9% 75% 74% 13% 42 18% N/A  
326 Mercy College of Northwest Ohio 0.65 to 1 39% 75% 77% 51% 17 6% N/A  
326 Mount Carmel College of Nursing 1.29 to 1 42% 75% 86% 66% 18 4% N/A  
326 Old Dominion University 1.53 to 1 24% 75% 80% 50% 51 5% N/A  
326 Presentation College 1.59 to 1 81% 75% 67% 39% 41 11% N/A  
326 The Art Institute of Pittsburgh-Online Division 0.24 to 1 81% 75% 63% 21% N/A 23% N/A  
326 University of Arizona 3.56 to 1 71% 75% 77% 61% 95 6% N/A  
326 University of Dayton 2.37 to 1 98% 75% 86% 74% 84 2% N/A  
326 University of Louisville 2.50 to 1 55% 75% 78% 51% 97 8% N/A  
326 University of Mary 0.48 to 1 98% 75% 72% 52% 43 4% N/A  
326 University of North Carolina at Pembroke 4.68 to 1 15% 75% 62% 34% 61 6% N/A  
326 Wilkes University 0.61 to 1 97% 75% 82% 58% 75 6% N/A  
341 Bay State College 0.26 to 1 79% 76% 75% 22% 38 19% N/A  
341 Bowling Green State University-Main Campus 3.25 to 1 75% 76% 72% 58% 96 7% N/A  
341 Colorado State University-Fort Collins 2.78 to 1 42% 76% 83% 64% 87 3% N/A  
341 Concordia University 0.33 to 1 97% 76% 72% 51% 31 5% N/A  
341 Dakota Wesleyan University 1.07 to 1 100% 76% 66% 42% 99 13% N/A  
341 Franciscan University of Steubenville 1.16 to 1 86% 76% 84% 71% 52 2% N/A  
341 Park University 0.15 to 1 49% 76% 67% 39% 99 10% N/A  
341 Regis University 0.32 to 1 89% 76% 82% 62% 90 7% N/A  
341 Saint Joseph's College-New York 0.37 to 1 89% 76% 87% 65% 84 6% N/A  
341 University of Nebraska at Omaha 1.02 to 1 41% 76% 73% 43% 73 8% N/A  
341 University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire 4.17 to 1 37% 76% 84% 65% 62 2% N/A  
341 Wayne State University 1.59 to 1 76% 76% 77% 26% 97 10% N/A  
353 Biola University 1.24 to 1 94% 77% 86% 71% 51 3% N/A  
353 Ferris State University 1.86 to 1 67% 77% 71% 42% 53 6% N/A  
353 Mansfield University of Pennsylvania 2.93 to 1 19% 77% 72% 53% 70 8% N/A  
353 New England College 0.62 to 1 96% 77% 60% 38% 45 11% N/A  
353 Pittsburg State University 3.16 to 1 56% 77% 73% 50% 97 9% N/A  
353 Post University 0.12 to 1 51% 77% 57% 36% 40 19% N/A  
353 Texas State University-San Marcos 2.47 to 1 15% 77% 79% 56% 87 6% N/A  
353 University of Northern Iowa 3.32 to 1 59% 77% 82% 67% 99 4% N/A  
353 Walsh University 0.74 to 1 100% 77% 75% 60% 42 6% N/A  
362 Central Washington University 2.64 to 1 59% 78% 78% 56% 94 5% 100%  
362 Crown College 0.29 to 1 98% 78% 63% 53% 62 8% N/A  
362 DeVry University-Illinois 0.04 to 1 21% 78% 53% 33% 30 24% N/A  
362 Marymount University 0.61 to 1 89% 78% 70% 48% 54 4% N/A  
362 Saint Joseph College 0.57 to 1 99% 78% 75% 56% 74 6% N/A  
362 Saint Joseph's University 0.69 to 1 93% 78% 89% 76% 90 4% N/A  
362 University of Maine 2.46 to 1 67% 78% 78% 60% 83 7% N/A  
362 University of Southern Maine 1.36 to 1 41% 78% 66% 33% 52 9% N/A  
362 University of Wisconsin-La Crosse 4.24 to 1 16% 78% 85% 68% 84 2% N/A  
362 Utica College 0.67 to 1 95% 78% 64% 44% 66 7% N/A  
362 Viterbo University 0.52 to 1 98% 78% 71% 47% 58 6% N/A  
373 Clarion University of Pennsylvania 2.63 to 1 7% 79% 70% 49% 64 7% 95%  
373 Pace University-New York 0.53 to 1 98% 79% 78% 53% 55 5% N/A  
373 Robert Morris University 0.90 to 1 98% 79% 81% 59% 44 4% N/A  
373 Suffolk University 0.98 to 1 74% 79% 75% 55% 60 4% N/A  
373 The University of Texas of the Permian Basin 2.20 to 1 89% 79% 59% 34% 37 16% N/A  
373 University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point 3.86 to 1 6% 79% 80% 61% 96 4% N/A  
379 Augustana College 2.50 to 1 100% 80% 83% 65% 81 4% N/A  
379 Dordt College 1.70 to 1 100% 80% 81% 66% 43 3% N/A  
379 Drury University 0.22 to 1 42% 80% 73% 57% 97 14% N/A  
379 George Fox University 0.94 to 1 94% 80% 80% 62% 53 3% N/A  
379 Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences 69.67 to 1 75% 80% 82% 69% 38 1% N/A  
379 New Mexico State University-Main Campus 2.72 to 1 31% 80% 70% 46% 86 15% N/A  
379 Olivet Nazarene University 0.62 to 1 99% 80% 73% 58% 56 4% N/A  
379 University of Central Missouri 2.08 to 1 60% 80% 73% 50% 97 7% N/A  
387 Colorado Christian University 0.20 to 1 99% 81% 72% 42% 31 6% N/A  
387 Iowa State University 5.89 to 1 72% 81% 88% 68% 96 4% N/A  
387 Marshall University 2.53 to 1 54% 81% 70% 45% 84 10% N/A  
387 Murray State University 2.67 to 1 66% 81% 72% 53% 84 8% N/A  
387 Oregon State University 3.30 to 1 56% 81% 81% 61% 88 4% N/A  
387 Rivier College 18.25 to 1 98% 81% 78% 37% 64 3% N/A  
387 Saint Thomas Aquinas College 0.67 to 1 90% 81% 76% 58% 40 7% N/A  
387 The College of Saint Scholastica 0.95 to 1 97% 81% 77% 63% 81 5% N/A  
387 University of Missouri-Columbia 2.36 to 1 59% 81% 85% 69% 99 4% N/A  
396 Dowling College 0.25 to 1 92% 82% 65% 39% 41 7% N/A  
396 Embry Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott 2.19 to 1 92% 82% 78% 57% N/A 6% 91%  
396 Emporia State University 12.10 to 1 64% 82% 69% 43% 97 8% N/A  
396 Lakeland College 0.16 to 1 100% 82% 70% 42% 51 5% N/A  
396 Northwestern State University of Louisiana 2.13 to 1 56% 82% 69% 34% 71 14% N/A  

Methodology

For each college, we gathered data for nine different metrics: the number of full-time faculty per part-time faculty member; institutional financial aid, acceptance, retention, graduation, job placement, and default rates; years accredited; and undergraduate tuition. Learn more