North Carolina Private Colleges Ranked by Lowest Acceptance Rate

Below is a ranking of the 46 private colleges in North Carolina with the lowest acceptance rate for freshman undergraduate applications. Duke University leads the list by accepting 6% of high school students that applied.

Acceptance rate is a measure of the competitiveness of a school. Lower acceptance rates are more competitive and may require a higher GPA, SAT/ACT score, and other factors to be considered for admission.

List of North Carolina Private Colleges Ranked by Lowest Acceptance Rate
College	Acceptance Rate
Duke University Durham, North Carolina	6%
Davidson College Davidson, North Carolina	13%
Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, North Carolina	22%
Cabarrus College of Health Sciences Concord, North Carolina	23%
Saint Augustine's University Raleigh, North Carolina	34%
Carolina University Winston-Salem, North Carolina	40%
Brevard College Brevard, North Carolina	42%
Johnson C Smith University Charlotte, North Carolina	45%
Bennett College Greensboro, North Carolina	51%
Manna University Fayetteville, North Carolina	53%
Livingstone College Salisbury, North Carolina	59%
Queens University of Charlotte Charlotte, North Carolina	62%
Mid Atlantic Christian University Elizabeth City, North Carolina	62%
Elon University Elon, North Carolina	66%
Mars Hill University Mars Hill, North Carolina	68%
Chowan University Murfreesboro, North Carolina	69%
Montreat College Montreat, North Carolina	69%
Greensboro College Greensboro, North Carolina	70%

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This list is updated annually based on the latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Last updated: August 2026

Data source: IPEDS 2025 survey for academic year 2024/2025 - National Center for Education Statistics.