People are applying to more universities than ever before, but are being accepted into some of America’s universities top universities remains highly competitive.
Federal use facts from the National Center for Education Statistics, Business Insider has compiled a list of the 25 universities in the US which will be the most difficult to enter 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 include smaller colleges, such as colleges of education, engineering, or health sciences.
For the class of 2028, admission rates at the hardest-to-reach schools ranged from roughly 3% to 11% – and were among the lowest Ivy competitionsincluding Yale University, Harvard University and Columbia University.
For example, Yale University is the fourth most competitive university on this list, with only about 4% of the 57,517 applicants admitted. Harvard’s is 3.6%.
With acceptance rates at some highly selective schools falling to record lows in the last admissions cycle, students may increasingly be looking to less competitive – and often cheaper – options.
A May message from the university’s counseling office Top level admissionsDeclining admission rates are partly caused by students’ growing concerns about rejection from schools, leading to a huge spike in applications per student. However, that creates more selectivity, and the cycle continues, the company said. The increasing use of ‘early decision’ to retain students has also caused universities to become more selective during the regular decision-making cycle.
See the 25 US universities with the lowest admission rates in 2024. For context, each school’s tuition, applicants, student populationand the most popular major were also included.
25. University of Notre Dame
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Location: Notre Dame, Indiana
Applicants: 29,942
Acceptance rate: 11.3%
Student population: 13,000 students
Tuition fees 2026-2027: $69,280
Most popular major: Finances
24. Boston University
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Location: Boston
Applicants: 78,769
Acceptance rate: 11.1%
Student population: 38,093 students
Tuition fees 2026-2027: $73,024
Most popular major: Business Administration and Management
23. University of California-Berkeley
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Location: Berkley, California
Applicants: 124,242
Acceptance rate: 11.0%
Student population: 45,882 students
Academic year 2026-2027 Tuition fees: $18,214
Most popular major: Data science
22. Emory University
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Location: Atlanta
Applicants: 33,450
Acceptance rate: 10.6%
Student population: 16,000 students
Tuition fees 2026-2027: $70,300
Most popular major: Management sciences and information systems
21. University of Southern California
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Location: Los Angeles
Applicants: 82,027
Acceptance rate: 9.8%
Student population: 46,000 students
Tuition fees 2026-2027: $75,384
Most popular major: Company
20. New York University
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Location: New York City
Applicants: 110,807
Acceptance rate: 9.2%
Student population: 56,800 students
Tuition fees 2026-2027: $68,576
Most popular major: Visual and performing arts
19. University of California, Los Angeles
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Location: Los Angeles
Applicants: 146,272
Acceptance rate: 9.0%
Student population: 49,013 students
Academic year 2026-2027 Tuition fees: $16,430
Most popular major: Business economics
18. Cornell University
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Location: Ithaca, New York
Applicants: 62,993
Acceptance rate: 8.8%
Student population: 26,561 students
Tuition fees 2026-2027: $49,816
Most popular major: Computer Science
17. Rice University
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Location: Houston
Applicants: 32,473
Acceptance rate: 8.0%
Student population: 9,200 students
Tuition fees 2026-2027: $71,140
Most popular major: Computer Science
16. Northwestern University
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Location: Evanston, Ill
Applicants: 49,474
Acceptance rate: 7.7%
Student population: 23,400 students
Tuition fees 2026-2027: $71,802
Most Popular Degree: Economy
15. Johns Hopkins University
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Location: Baltimore
Applicants: 45,895
Acceptance rate: 6.4%
Student population: 30,210 students
Tuition fees 2026-2027: $68,670
Most popular major: Cellular and molecular biology
14. Vanderbilt University
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Location: Nashville
Applicants: 45,409
Acceptance rate: 5.9%
Student population: 13,575 students
Tuition fees 2026-2027: $69,822
Most Popular Degree: Human and organizational development
13. Duke University
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Location: Durham, North Carolina
Applicants: 51,795
Acceptance rate: 5.7%
Student population: 17,325 students
Tuition fees 2026-2027: $73,740
Most Popular Degree: Computer Science
10. Dartmouth College (tie)
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Location: Hanover, New Hampshire
Applicants: 31,656
Acceptance rate: 5.4%
Student population: 6,900 students
Tuition fees 2026-2027: $71,697
Most popular major: Economy
10. University of Pennsylvania (tie)
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Location: Philadelphia
Applicants: 65,226
Acceptance rate: 5.4%
Student population: 29,384 students
Tuition fees 2026-2027: $65,670
Most popular major: Business, management and related support services
10. Brown University (tie)
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Location: Providence, Rhode Island
Applicants: 48,904
Acceptance rate: 5.4%
Student population: 11,164 students
Tuition fees 2026-2027: $74,568
Most popular major: Computer Science
9. Northeastern University
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Location: Boston
Applicants: 98,425
Acceptance rate: 5.2%
Student population: 47,367 students
Tuition fees 2026-2027: $70,000
Most popular major: Business administration, management and technology
8. Princeton University
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Location: Princeton, New Jersey
Applicants: 40,468
Acceptance rate: 4.6%
Student population: 9,106 students
Tuition fees 2026-2027: $68,140
Most Popular Degree: Economy
6. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (tie)
MIT
Location: Cambridge, MA
Applicants: 28,232
Acceptance rate: 4.5%
Student population: 11,816 students
Tuition fees 2026-2027: $92,760
Most popular major: Computer science and engineering
6. University of Chicago (tie)
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Location: Chicago
Applicants: 43,612
Acceptance rate: 4.5%
Student population: 19,140 students
Tuition fees 2026-2027: $75,960
Most popular major: Economy
5. Columbia University
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Location: New York City
Applicants: 60,115
Acceptance rate: 4.0%
Student population: 35,173 students
Tuition fees 2026-2027: $72,800
Most popular major: Computer Science
4. Yale University
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Location: New Haven, Connecticut
Applicants: 57,517
Acceptance rate: 3.9%
Student population: 15,657 students
Tuition fees 2026-2027: $94,100
Most Popular Degree: Economy
2. Harvard University (tie)
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Location: Cambridge, MA
Applicants: 54,008
Acceptance rate: 3.6%
Student population: 24,317 students
Tuition fees 2026-2027: $62,226
Most popular major: Economy
2. Stanford University (tie)
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Location: Stanford, California
Applicants: 57,326
Acceptance rate: 3.6%
Student population: 17,314 students
Tuition fees 2026-2027: $67,731
Most popular major: Computer Science
1. California Institute of Technology
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Location: Pasadena, California
Applicants: 13,856
Acceptance rate: 2.6%
Student population: 2,368 students
Tuition fees 2026-2027: $68,574
Most Popular Degree: Computer Science
