North Carolina Public Colleges Ranked by Lowest Acceptance Rate

Below is a ranking of the 16 public colleges in North Carolina with the lowest acceptance rate for freshman undergraduate applications. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill leads the list by accepting 15% 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 Public Colleges Ranked by Lowest Acceptance Rate
College	Acceptance Rate
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, North Carolina	15%
University of North Carolina School of the Arts Winston Salem, North Carolina	30%
North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, North Carolina	42%
North Carolina A & T State University Greensboro, North Carolina	50%
Elizabeth City State University Elizabeth City, North Carolina	64%
University of North Carolina Wilmington Wilmington, North Carolina	64%
Winston Salem State University Winston-Salem, North Carolina	78%
University of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte, North Carolina	80%
Fayetteville State University Fayetteville, North Carolina	82%
Western Carolina University Cullowhee, North Carolina	82%
North Carolina Central University Durham, North Carolina	87%
East Carolina University Greenville, North Carolina	89%
University of North Carolina at Greensboro Greensboro, North Carolina	89%
Appalachian State University Boone, North Carolina	90%
University of North Carolina Asheville Asheville, North Carolina	92%
University of North Carolina at Pembroke Pembroke, North Carolina	93%

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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.