“Congratulations! You’ve been accepted,” are words all prospective students long to hear. However, whether you get an acceptance letter or rejection letter largely depends on the colleges you apply to. Some colleges and universities pride themselves on selectivity. Others strive to be more inclusive, providing a wider range of students with access to higher education. Easiest Colleges to Get Into We understand that going to an Ivy League school may look good on paper, but let’s face it, we’re not all Ivy League material. Maybe you weren’t a straight A student, or perhaps you simply didn’t score that well on a standardized test. Whatever the case, one of these top 15 colleges with high acceptance rates might be a better fit for you. We combed through thousands of rows of data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) to compile our list of the top 15 colleges with high acceptance rates. As we were going through that process, we realized that a high acceptance rate on it’s own doesn’t hold much weight. In our opinion, a high acceptance rate is only meaningful if a school can also keep those students enrolled year after year, and graduate a high percentage of those enrolled. With that in mind, we filtered our list to only include schools that met all of the following criteria: Acceptance rate over 85%,Retention rate over 80%,And Graduation rate over 55%. At this point, you’re probably wondering, ‘Well, which schools actually made the list?’ Let’s take a look. Our List of Top 15 colleges with High Acceptance Rates: Thomas More College of Liberal ArtsMount Carmel College of NursingBenedictine CollegeTransylvania UniversityJohn Paul the Great Catholic UniversityLoras CollegeWaynesburg UniversityPennsylvania Academy of the Fine ArtsSweet Briar CollegeMaryville University of Saint LouisIona CollegePrincipia CollegeHoughton CollegeOtis College of Art and DesignProvidence Christian College Applying to one of these high acceptance rate schools may offer you more confidence that you’ll gain admission. However, there are a few other factors you may also want to consider, including: cost, location, majors-offered, available program-format, and credit for military or life experience. We’ve included some of these data points below to help you make a more informed decision. We recommend reaching out to all the schools that interest you and gathering as much information as needed to ensure you find the right fit for you! Institution Name Location Acceptance Rate Retention Rate Graduation Rate Out-of-State Tuition Credits for Life Exp Credit for Military Online Programs Offered Thomas More College of Liberal Arts Merrimack, NH 100% 100% 72% $21,000.00 Implied no Implied no Implied no Mount Carmel College of Nursing Columbus,OH 99% 67% 67% $19,759.00 Yes Yes Yes Benedictine College Atchison, KS 97% 80% 56% $27,730.00 Yes Yes Implied no Transylvania University Lexington, KY 95% 82% 67% $35,770.00 Yes Implied no Implied no John Paul the Great Catholic University Escondido, CA 95% 81% 63% $24,000.00 Yes Implied no Yes Loras College Dubuque, IA 95% 76% 57% $31,418.00 Yes Yes Implied no Waynesburg University Waynesburg, PA 95% 76% 56% $23,160.00 Yes Yes Yes Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Philadelphia, PA 93% 76% 57% $35,646.00 Yes Implied no Yes Sweet Briar College Sweet Briar, VA 93% 72% 57% $36,520.00 Yes Implied no Implied no Maryville University of Saint Louis Saint Louis, MO 92% 83% 56% $26,070.00 Yes Yes Yes Iona College New Rochelle, NY 92% 75% 57% $35,482.00 Yes Implied no Yes Principia College Elsah, IL 91% 88% 71% $28,320.00 Yes Implied no Implied no Houghton College Houghton, NY 91% 80% 66% $31,040.00 Yes Yes Yes Otis College of Art and Design Los Angeles, CA 91% 80% 65% $42,370.00 Yes Implied no Implied no Providence Christian College Pasadena, CA 91% 61% 60% $28,522.00 Yes Implied no Implied no Bethel College-Indiana Mishawaka, IN 90% 79% 58% $27,580.00 Yes Yes Yes Marquette University Milwaukee, WI 89% 89% 58% $39,300.00 Yes Yes Yes Willamette University Salem, OR 89% 86% 71% $47,840.00 Yes Implied no Implied no Whitworth University Spokane, WA 89% 85% 64% $41,086.00 Yes Yes Implied no Gordon College Wenham, MA 89% 83% 61% $35,180.00 Yes Implied no Implied no Taylor University Upland, IN 87% 90% 71% $32,640.00 Yes Yes Yes Centenary University Hackettstown, NJ 87% 78% 58% $31,156.00 Yes Yes Yes Mills College Oakland, CA 87% 77% 58% $44,765.00 Yes Implied no Implied no Randolph College Lynchburg, VA 86% 67% 60% $37,540.00 Yes Yes Implied no Wheaton College Wheaton, IL 85% 93% 81% $35,190.00 Yes Implied no Implied no John Carroll University University Heights, OH 85% 86% 57% $38,490.00 Yes Yes Yes Westmont College Santa Barbara, CA 85% 83% 74% $42,890.00 Yes Implied no Implied no Saint Michael’s College Colchester, VT 85% 83% 69% $43,315.00 Yes Yes Implied no McDaniel College Westminster, MD 85% 81% 63% $41,800.00 Yes Yes Yes University of St Thomas Saint Paul, MN 84% 88% 60% $40,224.00 Yes Yes Yes University of Puget Sound Tacoma, WA 84% 86% 72% $47,840.00 Yes Implied no Implied no Niagara University Niagara University, NY 84% 83% 56% $30,500.00 Yes Yes Yes Simpson College Indianola, IA 84% 80% 62% $36,969.00 Yes Yes Implied no Hanover College Hanover, IN 84% 79% 65% $35,750.00 Yes Implied no Implied no Pacific University Forest Grove, OR 84% 79% 64% $42,594.00 Yes Yes Yes Massachusetts Maritime Academy Buzzards Bay, MA 83% 88% 63% $19,140.00 Yes Yes Implied no Franciscan University of Steubenville Steubenville, OH 83% 87% 70% $25,970.00 Yes Yes Yes Samford University Birmingham, AL 83% 87% 59% $29,640.00 Yes Yes Yes Calvin College Grand Rapids, MI 83% 87% 57% $33,100.00 Yes Yes Implied no Catholic University of America Washington, DC 83% 86% 62% $43,300.00 Yes Implied no Yes Bethel University Saint Paul, MN 83% 85% 63% $36,060.00 Yes Yes Yes Immaculata University Immaculata, PA 83% 78% 59% $26,500.00 Yes Yes Yes American Jewish University Los Angeles, CA 83% 50% 63% $29,592.00 Yes Implied no Implied no St Mary’s College of Maryland St. Mary’s City, MD 82% 87% 67% $27,098.00 Yes Yes Implied no Saint Mary’s College of California Moraga, CA 82% 86% 63% $45,536.00 Yes Yes Implied no George Fox University Newberg, OR 82% 83% 59% $34,500.00 Yes Yes Yes Merrimack College North Andover, MA 82% 81% 65% $37,910.00 Yes Yes Yes Grace College and Theological Seminary Winona Lake, IN 82% 79% 58% $22,918.00 Yes Yes Yes Roger Williams University Bristol, RI 82% 79% 56% $30,326.00 Yes Yes Yes College of Saint Benedict Saint Joseph, MN 81% 87% 77% $42,690.00 Yes Implied no Implied no Belmont University Nashville, TTN 81% 85% 57% $31,300.00 Yes Yes Implied no Endicott College Beverly, MA 81% 84% 67% $31,454.00 Yes Yes Yes Huntington University Huntington, IN 81% 80% 57% $24,694.00 Yes Yes Yes University of New England Biddeford, ME 81% 78% 60% $35,240.00 Yes Yes Yes Saint Johns University Collegeville, MN 80% 88% 66% $42,574.00 Yes Implied no Implied no Hendrix College Conway, AR 80% 83% 64% $43,720.00 Yes Implied no Implied no International Business College-Fort Wayne Fort Wayne, IN 80% 0% 76% $13,960.00 Implied no Implied no Implied no Misericordia University Dallas, PA 79% 85% 64% $30,030.00 Yes Yes Yes Saint Norbert College De Pere, WI 79% 83% 67% $35,878.00 Yes Yes Implied no Assumption College Worcester, MA 79% 82% 70% $35,510.00 Yes Yes Yes Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Albany, NY 79% 80% 71% $32,840.00 Yes Implied no Implied no Goucher College Baltimore, MD 79% 78% 57% $42,600.00 Yes Yes Implied no Siena College Loudonville, NY 78% 88% 72% $35,435.00 Yes Yes Implied no Ursinus College Collegeville, PA 78% 85% 74% $50,360.00 Yes Implied no Implied no Saint Mary’s College Notre Dame, IN 78% 84% 75% $39,980.00 Yes Implied no Implied no Canisius College Buffalo, NY 78% 83% 63% $34,966.00 Yes Yes Yes Saint Joseph’s University Philadelphia, PA 77% 91% 72% $43,700.00 Yes Yes Yes Messiah College Mechanicsburg, PA 77% 88% 71% $33,320.00 Yes Yes Yes Wartburg College Waverly, IA 77% 79% 65% $38,710.00 Yes Yes Implied no Mount Vernon Nazarene University Mount Vernon, OH 77% 79% 57% $18,696.00 Yes Yes Yes Wheelock College Boston, MA 77% 76% 56% $34,950.00 Yes Implied no Yes Centre College Danville, KY 76% 91% 83% $40,500.00 Yes Implied no Implied no Saint Anselm College Manchester, NH 76% 89% 70% $38,960.00 Yes Implied no Implied no Point Loma Nazarene University San Diego, CA 76% 89% 63% $34,000.00 Yes Yes Yes Moravian College Bethlehem, PA 76% 82% 65% $40,293.00 Yes Implied no Implied no University of Scranton Scranton, PA 75% 87% 73% $42,910.00 Yes Implied no Yes Marywood University Scranton, PA 75% 86% 56% $32,190.00 Yes Yes Yes Loyola University Maryland Baltimore, MD 75% 85% 76% $46,160.00 Yes Implied no Yes Manhattan College Riverdale, NY 75% 85% 59% $38,200.00 Yes Yes Yes University of Redlands Redlands, CA 75% 82% 65% $47,722.00 Yes Yes Yes Hope College Holland, MI 74% 88% 64% $32,490.00 Yes Implied no Implied no Elizabethtown College Elizabethtown, PA 74% 87% 72% $45,350.00 Yes Implied no Yes Quinnipiac University Hamden, CT 74% 86% 71% $44,420.00 Yes Yes Yes Xavier University Cincinnati, OH 74% 84% 66% $37,000.00 Yes Yes Yes Seattle University Seattle, WA 74% 84% 64% $42,120.00 Yes Implied no Yes The University of the Arts Philadelphia, PA 74% 82% 58% $43,100.00 Yes Implied no Implied no DeSales University Center Valley, PA 74% 81% 58% $34,500.00 Yes Yes Yes Whittier College Whittier, CA 74% 78% 60% $45,720.00 Yes Implied no Implied no Kalamazoo College Kalamazoo, MI 73% 90% 77% $46,350.00 Yes Implied no Implied no Bryant University Smithfield, RI 73% 90% 76% $41,700.00 Yes Yes Implied no California Lutheran University Thousand Oaks, CA 73% 85% 60% $40,880.00 Yes Yes Yes University of Mary Washington Fredericksburg, VA 73% 84% 59% $21,278.00 Yes Yes Implied no Eckerd College Saint Petersburg, FL 73% 82% 60% $42,428.00 Yes Yes Implied no Lebanon Valley College Annville, PA 73% 81% 68% $40,990.00 Yes Yes Yes Emmanuel College Boston, MA 73% 78% 56% $38,584.00 Yes Implied no Yes University of Dayton Dayton, OH 72% 90% 62% $41,750.00 Yes Yes Yes Creighton University Omaha, NE 72% 89% 67% $37,086.00 Yes Yes Yes Knox College Galesburg, IL 72% 87% 69% $44,191.00 Yes Implied no Implied no Stonehill College Easton, MA 72% 86% 83% $41,300.00 Yes Implied no Implied no Duquesne University Pittsburgh, PA 72% 86% 63% $36,394.00 Yes Yes Yes Rockhurst University Kansas City, MO 72% 86% 60% $35,800.00 Yes Yes Implied no Salve Regina University Newport, RI 72% 84% 69% $38,386.00 Yes Yes Yes DePaul University Chicago, IL 72% 84% 56% $38,410.00 Yes Yes Yes Dordt College Sioux Center, IA 72% 81% 61% $29,480.00 Yes Implied no Yes Westminster College New Wilmington, PA 72% 78% 63% $34,830.00 Yes Implied no Yes Lancaster Bible College Lancaster, PA 72% 76% 57% $21,900.00 Yes Yes Yes Wittenberg University Springfield, OH 72% 72% 59% $37,930.00 Yes Implied no Implied no Ithaca College Ithaca, NY 71% 83% 69% $42,884.00 Yes Yes Implied no Lewis & Clark College Portland, OR 71% 83% 66% $48,628.00 Yes Implied no Implied no Loyola University Chicago Chicago, IL 71% 83% 64% $41,470.00 Yes Yes Yes Juniata College Huntingdon, PA 71% 81% 67% $43,050.00 Yes Implied no Yes Albion College Albion, MI 71% 79% 56% $42,560.00 Yes Yes Implied no Ohio Wesleyan University Delaware, OH 71% 78% 64% $44,430.00 Yes Implied no Implied no King’s College Wilkes-Barre, PA 71% 73% 61% $34,630.00 Yes Implied no Yes