Are you curious which of America’s universities boasts the lowest acceptance rate? If so, you likely have some schools in mind that could take the cake.

But, among America’s most selective universities as ranked by US News & World Report, is it Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, or MIT? Is it Columbia, Dartmouth, Brown, UPenn, or Cornell? Is it Duke, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, UChicago, Vanderbilt, WashU, or Caltech? Want a Spoiler Alert?

Vanderbilt Has Lowest Class of 2030 Acceptance Rate, for Now

Vanderbilt boasts the lowest overall acceptance rate among all U.S. universities for the Class of 2030. But the much smaller Caltech could take the grand prize once the school releases its Common Data Set, including its overall admission rate for the Caltech Class of 2030. The same is true of Harvard, which produced a slim 3.65% acceptance rate last year once the data finally arrived.

So, Which College Had the Lowest Acceptance Rate of 2024-2025?

Answer: Vanderbilt Wins on a Technicality, But That Could Soon Change.

Below are the overall admission rates for the Class of 2030 among America’s most selective national universities. If the school has yet to publish its admission rate, as was particularly in vogue this cycle as colleges grappled with an increasingly tumultuous admissions landscape, we’ll include it once the figures are released through The Common Data Set.

Colleges with the Lowest Acceptance Rates of 2025-2026

College / University	2026 US News Rank (“Best National Universities”)	First-Year Acceptance Rate for 2025-26 (Class of 2030)	First-Year Acceptance Rate for 2024-25 (Class of 2029)	First-Year Acceptance Rate for 2023-24 (Class of 2028)	First-Year Acceptance Rate for 2022-23 (Class of 2027)
Vanderbilt University	#17	4.08%	4.70%	5.10%	6.20%
Columbia University	#15	4.23%	4.94%	3.86%	4.00%
Yale University	#4	4.24%	3.87%	3.90%	4.35%
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	#2	4.58%	4.55%	4.52%	5.00%
Duke University	#7	4.73%	4.80%	5.10%	6.00%
Brown University	#13	5.35%	5.65%	5.39%	5.23%
Dartmouth College	#13	5.84%	6.02%	5.40%	6.23%
Rice University	#17	7.73%	8.01%	8.00%	7.88%
University of Notre Dame	#20	9.00%	9.38%	11.27%	12.38%
Emory University	#24	12.29%	14.45%	14.68%	16.40%
Georgetown University	#24	13.00%	13.49%	12.91%	13.08%
Northwestern University	#7	~7%	7.00%	7.50%	7.00%
Princeton University	#1	Not Yet Published	4.42%	4.62%	4.59%
Harvard University	#3	Not Yet Published	3.65%	3.59%	3.41%
Stanford University	#4	Not Yet Published	Not Yet Published	3.61%	3.91%
University of Chicago	#6	Not Yet Published	Not Yet Published	4.48%	4.79%
Johns Hopkins University	#7	Not Yet Published	6.46%	5.00%	6.00%
University of Pennsylvania	#7	Not Yet Published	4.92%	5.40%	5.87%
California Institute of Technology	#11	Not Yet Published	3.78%	2.57%	3.14%
Cornell University	#12	Not Yet Published	8.38%	8.41%	7.90%
University of California, Berkeley	#15	Not Yet Published	11.04%	11.36%	11.40%
University of California, Los Angeles	#17	Not Yet Published	8.73%	9.00%	8.57%
Carnegie Mellon University	#20	Not Yet Published	11.07%	11.66%	11.40%
University of Michigan – Ann Arbor	#20	Not Yet Published	16.42%	15.64%	17.94%
Washington University in St. Louis	#20	Not Yet Published	11.92%	12.06%	11.96%

Columbia’s Class of 2030 Admission Bests Its Ivy League Peers

For the Class of 2030, the most recent batch of applicants to America’s elite universities, four of the eight Ivy League institutions have reported their overall admission rates. Of these four institutions, Dartmouth’s overall acceptance rate stood at 5.84%, Brown’s at 5.35%, Yale’s at 4.24%, and Columbia’s at 4.23%.

Of the four Ivy League schools that have yet to release their overall acceptance rates for the Class of 2028 (Princeton, Harvard, UPenn, and Cornell), it’s likely that Harvard eclipsed Columbia’s acceptance rate. For the Class of 2029, Princeton’s overall admission rate stood at 4.42%, Harvard’s at 3.65%, UPenn’s at 4.92%, and Cornell’s at 8.38%.

Other Schools With Low Acceptance Rates

So, among the Ivy League institutions, it’s bound to be Harvard and everyone else once the data is released. But what about peer institutions outside of the Ivies?

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MIT’s overall admission rate for the Class of 2030 stood at 4.58%. It’s just slightly higher than the previous year’s rate, which stood at 4.55% for the Class of 2029, but still doesn’t match three years prior. For the Class of 2026, a record-low 3.96% of applicants to The Institute earned admission. But even for the Class of 2026, MIT’s overall admission rate did not match Harvard’s 3.19% or Columbia’s 3.73%.

Duke University

Duke’s overall admission rate for the Class of 2030 stood at 4.73%, down from 4.80% for the Class of 2029. Yet while the Durham, North Carolina-based institution boasts a very low overall admission rate, it has not eclipsed its other elite Southern school counterpart.

University of Notre Dame

With a 9.0% acceptance rate for the Class of 2030, the University of Notre Dame is finally in the Big Leagues of elite college acceptance. But it will have a long way to go before it’s really in competition with schools like Vanderbilt in Columbia for the crown for highest selectivity. 

Rice University

Rice’s overall admission rate for the Class of 2030 landed at 7.73% compared to 8.01% for the Rice Class of 2029. So it’s apples and oranges when we’re talking about Vanderbilt’s overall acceptance rate.

Caltech’s or Harvard’s Class of 2030 Admission Rate Could Turn Out to Be Lower than Vanderbilt’s

In fact, it’s quite likely! Caltech has yet to release its overall admission rate for the Class of 2030, nor has Harvard. However, Caltech’s overall admission rate for the Class of 2029 stood at 3.78%, while Harvard’s stood at 3.65%. Thus, it would not be surprising if Caltech’s or Harvard’s overall admission rate for the Class of 2030 bests Vanderbilt’s current low for the year among U.S. universities. But we’ll only know once the Common Data Sets for the Class of 2030 are published. So, hurry up, Caltech and Harvard!