2026 Tightest Illinois Colleges To Admit Rankings
Among Illinois colleges, University of Chicago has the tightest acceptance rate (4.48%) and Northwestern University has the second lowest rate (7.69%) based on academic year 2023-2024 admission data.
Below table ranks and compares the Tightest Illinois Colleges To Admit having lowest acceptance rate. For the acceptance rate rankings, we only include 4-year Illinois colleges that have competitive admission.
Tightest Illinois Colleges To Admit
| Rank | College Name | Applicants | Admitted | Enrolled | Acceptance Rate | Yield | Tuition & Fees | Student Population | SAT Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Chicago Chicago, IL | 43,612 | 1,955 | 1,726 | 4.5% | 88.3% | $69,324 | 18,566 | 1,550 |
| 2 | Northwestern University Evanston, IL | 49,474 | 3,806 | 2,105 | 7.7% | 55.3% | $68,322 | 23,856 | 1,540 |
| 3 | Illinois Wesleyan University Bloomington, IL | 9,558 | 3,757 | 461 | 39.3% | 12.3% | $57,704 | 1,582 | 1,240 |
| 4 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL | 73,742 | 31,247 | 9,008 | 42.4% | 28.8% | $40,096 | 59,238 | 1,440 |
| 5 | Chicago State University Chicago, IL | 10,638 | 4,602 | 173 | 43.3% | 3.8% | $12,757 | 2,238 | - |
| 6 | Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL | 12,216 | 6,710 | 519 | 54.9% | 7.7% | $52,202 | 8,834 | 1,300 |
| 7 | Olivet Nazarene University Bourbonnais, IL | 5,789 | 3,234 | 791 | 55.9% | 24.5% | $38,900 | 3,339 | 1,100 |
| 8 | Lake Forest College Lake Forest, IL | 5,356 | 3,043 | 415 | 56.8% | 13.6% | $56,402 | 1,837 | 1,320 |
| 9 | Augustana College Rock Island, IL | 7,857 | 4,925 | 664 | 62.7% | 13.5% | $51,598 | 2,570 | 1,150 |
| 10 | Eastern Illinois University Charleston, IL | 12,539 | 8,194 | 804 | 65.3% | 9.8% | $15,859 | 8,505 | 1,000 |
Qualified Illinois Colleges in Core Admission Stats
