The 25 Hardest Universities to Get Into in the US, RankedNEWS | 05 October 2026People are applying to more colleges than ever before, but admission to some of the US's top universities remains highly competitive.
Using federal data from the National Center for Education Statistics, Business Insider compiled a list of the 25 universities in the US that are hardest to get into in 2024.
With a few exceptions, universities are generally larger institutions that offer a wide range of academic programs, including bachelor's and graduate degrees. They also often contain smaller colleges, such as colleges of education, engineering, or health sciences.
For the Class of 2028, admission rates at the hardest-to-get-into schools ranged from roughly 3% to 11% — and among the lowest were at Ivy Leagues, including Yale University, Harvard University, and Columbia University.
For instance, Yale University is the fourth-most competitive university on this list, with just about 4% of its 57,517 applicants admitted. Harvard's is 3.6%.
With acceptance rates at some highly selective schools falling to record lows in the latest admissions cycle, students may increasingly look to less competitive — and often cheaper — options.
A May post by the college consulting firm Top Tier Admissions, declining admission rates are partly driven by students becoming increasingly worried about being rejected by schools, leading to a huge spike in applications per student. That, however, breeds more selectivity, and the cycle continues, the firm said. The increasing use of "early decision" to lock in students has also let universities become choosier during the regular decision cycle.
See the 25 universities across the US with the lowest admission rates in 2024. For context, each school's tuition, applicants, student population, and most popular major were also included.Author: Tristin Hoffman. Source
