Ohio Private Colleges Ranked by Lowest Acceptance Rate

Below is a ranking of the 59 private colleges in Ohio with the lowest acceptance rate for freshman undergraduate applications. Denison University leads the list by accepting 17% 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 Ohio Private Colleges Ranked by Lowest Acceptance Rate
College	Acceptance Rate
Denison University Granville, Ohio	17%
Kenyon College Gambier, Ohio	31%
Art Academy of Cincinnati Cincinnati, Ohio	34%
Oberlin College Oberlin, Ohio	34%
Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, Ohio	37%
Ohio Christian University Circleville, Ohio	38%
Wilberforce University Wilberforce, Ohio	41%
Cleveland Institute of Music Cleveland, Ohio	47%
Defiance College Defiance, Ohio	48%
Ohio Wesleyan University Delaware, Ohio	56%
Franciscan University of Steubenville Steubenville, Ohio	58%
Mount St. Joseph University Cincinnati, Ohio	59%
The College of Wooster Wooster, Ohio	60%
Cleveland Institute of Art Cleveland, Ohio	61%
Cedarville University Cedarville, Ohio	65%
University of Dayton Dayton, Ohio	65%
Bluffton University Bluffton, Ohio	67%
Columbus College of Art & Design Columbus, Ohio	68%

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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.