In the competitive landscape of higher education, gaining admission to a top-tier college is a benchmark of academic prowess and ambition. The nation’s most prestigious institutions, with their storied histories and notable alumni, are often synonymous with exclusivity and rigorous admission standards. But while names like Harvard, Stanford, and MIT might dominate the national conversation, each state boasts its own educational crown jewel that remains fiercely selective.
From sprawling public universities to intimate liberal arts colleges, the academic fabric of the US is rich and varied. And while acceptance rates and standardized test scores are often seen as the main gatekeepers to these esteemed halls, it's essential to remember that they tell only a part of the story.
In this BrokeScholar study, we went state by state in order to identify the hardest colleges to get into in each of the 50 states, plus the District of Columbia.
What Is the Hardest College to Get into in Every State?
The way we zeroed-in on the hardest college to get into in each state, we sourced data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). We then analyzed every college in each state in terms of their undergraduate acceptance rate. In cases where colleges had the same admission rate, we used another metric — the percent of those admitted who then enrolled at the college — as the tiebreaker (the higher the percentage of enrollment being the winner in such cases).
Read on to find out the hardest colleges to get into in every state.
Hardest College to Get into in Alabama
Tuskegee University
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 30%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 15%
Graduation Rate: 67%
Hardest College to Get into in Alaska
University of Alaska Southeast
Type: 4-year, primarily associate's, Public
Admission Rate: 63%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 57%
Graduation Rate: 25%
Hardest College to Get into in Arizona
Ottawa University-Surprise
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 29%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 75%
Graduation Rate: N/A
Hardest College to Get into in Arkansas
Harding University
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 45%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 79%
Graduation Rate: 69%
Hardest College to Get into in California
California Institute of Technology
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 3%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 50%
Graduation Rate: 94%
Hardest College to Get into in Colorado
Colorado College
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 16%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 42%
Graduation Rate: 86%
Hardest College to Get into in Connecticut
Yale University
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 5%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 68%
Graduation Rate: 98%
Hardest College to Get into in Delaware
Delaware State University
Type: 4-year, Public
Admission Rate: 55%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 37%
Graduation Rate: 45%
Hardest College to Get into in D.C.
Georgetown University
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 12%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 49%
Graduation Rate: 96%
Hardest College to Get into in Florida
University of Miami
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 19%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 25%
Graduation Rate: 84%
Hardest College to Get into in Georgia
Emory University
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 11%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 38%
Graduation Rate: 90%
Hardest College to Get into in Hawaii
Brigham Young University-Hawaii
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 34%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 67%
Graduation Rate: 66%
Hardest College to Get into in Idaho
The College of Idaho
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 46%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 13%
Graduation Rate: 60%
Hardest College to Get into in Illinois
University of Chicago
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 5%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 85%
Graduation Rate: 96%
Hardest College to Get into in Indiana
University of Notre Dame
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 13%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 60%
Graduation Rate: 96%
Hardest College to Get into in Iowa
Grinnell College
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 11%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 41%
Graduation Rate: 88%
Hardest College to Get into in Kansas
Manhattan Christian College
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 48%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 72%
Graduation Rate: 53%
Hardest College to Get into in Kentucky
Berea College
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 25%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 65%
Graduation Rate: 62%
Hardest College to Get into in Louisiana
Tulane University
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 11%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 51%
Graduation Rate: 87%
Hardest College to Get into in Maine
Colby College
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 8%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 52%
Graduation Rate: 88%
Hardest College to Get into in Maryland
Johns Hopkins University
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 7%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 51%
Graduation Rate: 94%
Hardest College to Get into in Massachusetts
Harvard University
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 3%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 83%
Graduation Rate: 98%
Hardest College to Get into in Michigan
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Type: 4-year, Public
Admission Rate: 18%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 47%
Graduation Rate: 93%
Hardest College to Get into in Minnesota
Carleton College
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 17%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 37%
Graduation Rate: 91%
Hardest College to Get into in Mississippi
Alcorn State University
Type: 4-year, Public
Admission Rate: 30%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 25%
Graduation Rate: 47%
Hardest College to Get into in Missouri
Washington University in St Louis
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 12%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 48%
Graduation Rate: 94%
Hardest College to Get into in Montana
The University of Montana-Western
Type: 4-year, Public
Admission Rate: 36%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 51%
Graduation Rate: 45%
Hardest College to Get into in Nebraska
Clarkson College
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 56%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 100%
Graduation Rate: 72%
Hardest College to Get into in Nevada
Nevada State College
Type: 4-year, Public
Admission Rate: 82%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 34%
Graduation Rate: 32%
Hardest College to Get into in New Hampshire
Dartmouth College
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 6%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 62%
Graduation Rate: 95%
Hardest College to Get into in New Mexico
Eastern New Mexico University
Type: 4-year, Public
Admission Rate: 28%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 92%
Graduation Rate: 41%
Hardest College to Get into in New Jersey
Princeton University
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 6%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 69%
Graduation Rate: 97%
Hardest College to Get into in New York
Columbia University
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 4%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 64%
Graduation Rate: 95%
Hardest College to Get into in North Carolina
Duke University
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 6%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 55%
Graduation Rate: 97%
Hardest College to Get into in North Dakota
Mayville State University
Type: 4-year, Public
Admission Rate: 71%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 52%
Graduation Rate: 35%
Hardest College to Get into in Ohio
Denison University
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 22%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 25%
Graduation Rate: 85%
Hardest College to Get into in Oklahoma
Randall University
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 43%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 59%
Graduation Rate: 15%
Hardest College to Get into in Oregon
Reed College
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 31%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 14%
Graduation Rate: 80%
Hardest College to Get into in Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 7%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 68%
Graduation Rate: 96%
Hardest College to Get into in Rhode Island
Brown University
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 5%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 67%
Graduation Rate: 95%
Hardest College to Get into in South Carolina
Clemson University
Type: 4-year, Public
Admission Rate: 43%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 20%
Graduation Rate: 85%
Hardest College to Get into in South Dakota
Augustana University
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 66%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 27%
Graduation Rate: 76%
Hardest College to Get into in Tennessee
Vanderbilt University
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 7%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 52%
Graduation Rate: 93%
Hardest College to Get into in Texas
Rice University
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 9%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 44%
Graduation Rate: 94%
Hardest College to Get into in Utah
Brigham Young University
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 67%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 79%
Graduation Rate: 79%
Hardest College to Get into in Vermont
Middlebury College
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 13%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 39%
Graduation Rate: 94%
Hardest College to Get into in Virginia
Washington and Lee University
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 17%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 39%
Graduation Rate: 95%
Hardest College to Get into in Washington
University of Washington-Seattle Campus
Type: 4-year, Public
Admission Rate: 48%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 30%
Graduation Rate: 84%
Hardest College to Get into in West Virginia
Alderson Broaddus University
Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit
Admission Rate: 61%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 18%
Graduation Rate: 34%
Hardest College to Get into in Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Type: 4-year, Public
Admission Rate: 49%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 29%
Graduation Rate: 89%
Hardest College to Get into in Wyoming
University of Wyoming
Type: 4-year, Public
Admission Rate: 96%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled: 29%
Graduation Rate: 61%
The Bottom Line on the Hardest Colleges to Get into in Every State in the US
Navigating the intricacies of the college admissions process is no small feat, and aiming for some of the country's hardest colleges to get into adds another layer of challenge. Yet, understanding the criteria and the distinct characteristics of these elite schools in each state offers prospective students a clearer picture of what's required and what might be achieved. From renowned research facilities to acclaimed faculty and transformative learning environments, each of these institutions represents the pinnacle of educational opportunity in its respective state.
However, it's crucial to remember that the measure of a college's worth isn't solely in its acceptance rate or its position on a list. Every student's journey is unique, and the "best" college for one individual might not be the same for another. While the colleges featured here stand out for their selectivity, students should prioritize finding an institution that aligns with their goals, values, and aspirations. The true value of education lies not just in the prestige of the institution, but in the growth, experiences, and opportunities it offers to its students.
