- Some of the most prestigious institutions of higher learning in the US are also the country’s most exclusive.
- Using data from the Department of Education, we found the 20 colleges with the lowest admissions rates.
- Many of the most selective schools also appear at the top of many college and university rankings.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Some of the most prestigious institutions of higher learning in the US are also the country’s most exclusive.
Using data from the Department of Education’s College Scorecard database, we found the colleges and universities in the US with the lowest admissions rates for the 2017-2018 academic year, the most recently available data. We looked specifically at schools that were predominantly four-year bachelor’s degree-granting institutions, as reported to the Department.
Several of the most selective colleges and universities also appear at the top of many college and university rankings, such as the list published annually by U.S. News and World Report. (Stanford University, the second most selective school on our list, ranked seventh in the most recent U.S. News and World Report on the best universities in the country, for example.)
Read more: The 25 top colleges in the US, and how much you might be earning 6 years after graduating
Here are the 20 US colleges with the lowest admissions rates, along with their sticker-price tuition and undergraduate enrollment in the 2017-18 academic year:
20. Swarthmore College had a 10.7% admissions rate.
Location: Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Tuition: $50,822
Enrollment: 1,565
19. Dartmouth College had a 10.5% admissions rate.
Location: Hanover, New Hampshire
Tuition: $53,368
Enrollment: 4,315
18. Claremont McKenna College had a 10.4% admissions rate.
Location: Claremont, California
Tuition: $52,825
Enrollment: 1,334
17. Duke University had a 9.9% admissions rate.
Location: Durham, North Carolina
Tuition: $53,500
Enrollment: 6,552
16. The United States Military Academy had a 9.6% admissions rate.
Location: West Point, New York
Tuition: $0
Enrollment: 4,491
15. University of Pennsylvania had a 9.3% admissions rate.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Tuition: $53,534
Enrollment: 10,660
14. Northwestern University had a 9.2% admissions rate.
Location: Evanston, Illinois
Tuition: $52,678
Enrollment: 8,489
13. University of Chicago had an 8.7% admissions rate.
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Tuition: $56,034
Enrollment: 6,298
12. Brown University had an 8.5% admissions rate.
Location: Providence, Rhode Island
Tuition: $53,419
Enrollment: 6,670
11. The United States Naval Academy had an 8.4% admissions rate.
Location: Annapolis, Maryland
Tuition: $0
Enrollment: 4,495
10. Pomona College had an 8.4% admissions rate.
Location: Claremont, California
Tuition: $51,075
Enrollment: 1,567
9. The California Institute of Technology had a 7.7% admissions rate.
Location: Pasadena, California
Tuition: $48,908
Enrollment: 961
8. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology had a 7.2% admissions rate.
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Tuition: $49,892
Enrollment: 4,489
7. Yale University had a 6.9% admissions rate.
Location: New Haven, Connecticut
Tuition: $51,400
Enrollment: 5,742
6. Columbia University had a 6.6% admissions rate.
Location: New York, New York
Tuition: $57,208
Enrollment: 8,170
5. Princeton University had a 6.4% admissions rate.
Location: Princeton, New Jersey
Tuition: $47,140
Enrollment: 5,246
4. The Juilliard School had a 5.9% admissions rate.
Location: New York, New York
Tuition: $43,170
Enrollment: 486
3. Harvard University had a 5.2% admissions rate.
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Tuition: $48,989
Enrollment: 7,532
2. Stanford University had a 4.7% admissions rate.
Location: Stanford, California
Tuition: $49,617
Enrollment: 7,056
1. The Curtis Institute of Music had a 3.3% admissions rate.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Tuition: $2,675
Enrollment: 131
