Minnesota Public Colleges Ranked by Lowest Acceptance Rate

Below is a ranking of the 12 public colleges in Minnesota with the lowest acceptance rate for freshman undergraduate applications. Bemidji State University leads the list by accepting 56% 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 Minnesota Public Colleges Ranked by Lowest Acceptance Rate
College	Acceptance Rate
Bemidji State University Bemidji, Minnesota	56%
Minnesota State University Moorhead Moorhead, Minnesota	59%
Southwest Minnesota State University Marshall, Minnesota	62%
University of Minnesota Rochester Rochester, Minnesota	71%
University of Minnesota Morris Morris, Minnesota	75%
Winona State University Winona, Minnesota	75%
University of Minnesota Twin Cities Minneapolis, Minnesota	80%
Minnesota State University Mankato Mankato, Minnesota	88%
University of Minnesota Crookston Crookston, Minnesota	88%
University of Minnesota Duluth Duluth, Minnesota	89%
Saint Cloud State University Saint Cloud, Minnesota	95%
Metropolitan State University Saint Paul, Minnesota	99%

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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.