The Most Selective Colleges in Connecticut
Every eligible Connecticut four-year that reports an admission rate, ranked hardest to get into first and easiest last — not a prestige Top 25. Selectivity here is the published rate, not a magazine composite.
Ranked by acceptance rate · 18 of 25 Connecticut institutions in this universe qualify for this ranking · Compiled 2026-09-01
Chase these schools
Top schools on this list that also show up elsewhere — hop lists without leaving the trail.
#1
Yale University
New Haven, CT
#4
Trinity College
Hartford, CT
- 1Yale UniversityNew Haven, CT · Private4.5%Compare nearby
Also on 14 other lists
- History#1
- English Language & Literature#5
- Most Selective Colleges in America#5
- Most Expensive Colleges by Sticker Price#7
- Highest Four-Year Graduation Rates#7
- Computer Science#9
- Social Sciences#9
- Multidisciplinary Studies#10
- the Highest ACT Scores#11
- Are Least Likely to Leave#15
- the Highest SAT Averages#15
- Best Student-to-Faculty Ratios#16
- Best Earnings-to-Debt Ratio#17
- Psychology#24
- 2Wesleyan UniversityMiddletown, CT · Private17.1%Compare nearby
- 3United States Coast Guard AcademyNew London, CT · Public24.3%Compare nearby
- 4Trinity CollegeHartford, CT · Private33.5%Compare nearby
- 5Connecticut CollegeNew London, CT · Private38.3%Compare nearby
- 6Fairfield UniversityFairfield, CT · Private45.0%Compare nearby
- 7University of ConnecticutStorrs, CT · Public53.9%Compare nearby
- 8University of BridgeportBridgeport, CT · Private64.3%Compare nearby
- 9Albertus Magnus CollegeNew Haven, CT · Private64.4%Compare nearby
- 10Sacred Heart UniversityFairfield, CT · Private67.7%Compare nearby
- 11Central Connecticut State UniversityNew Britain, CT · Public75.5%Compare nearby
- 12Quinnipiac UniversityHamden, CT · Private77.0%Compare nearby
- 13University of Saint JosephWest Hartford, CT · Private79.6%Compare nearby
- 14Eastern Connecticut State UniversityWillimantic, CT · Public80.5%Compare nearby
- 15University of New HavenWest Haven, CT · Private80.5%Compare nearby
- 16Southern Connecticut State UniversityNew Haven, CT · Public81.1%Compare nearby
- 17Western Connecticut State UniversityDanbury, CT · Public81.4%Compare nearby
- 18University of HartfordWest Hartford, CT · Private83.0%Compare nearby
How this list was built
- Measure
- Acceptance rate — sorted lowest to highest
- Source variable
ADM_RATE- Dataset
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, Most-Recent-Cohorts-Institution (05-19-2025 release)
- Connecticut institutions in this universe (25 schools).
- Connecticut four-year main campuses only. Rank order is published admission rate; on an exact tie, higher SAT average ranks above, and missing SAT does not drop a school. SAT is not shown because it is not the ranked measure. Schools without a published ADM_RATE are omitted rather than estimated.
- Institutions enrolling fewer than 500 undergraduates are excluded — the same size floor as the national selectivity list — even when they report an admission rate. That cut is not a median-stability adjustment.
- 18 of 25 Connecticut institutions in this universe qualify for this ranking (report the measure and pass any enrollment floor); the rest are omitted rather than estimated.
A single measure is a narrow way to judge a college. Read this alongside the others, and see the methodology for what these figures do and do not capture.
Keep exploring
- Re-rank with your weightsRe-score with your weights, pre-filtered to CT
- Showdown: Yale University vs Wesleyan UniversityHigher-or-lower on Scorecard metrics — round 1 is these two
- Live leaderboardReshuffle Top 10–50 on one Scorecard measure
- Explore games & mapsShowdown, Name That College, sports, and more lists
- Sports at Yale UniversityEADA programs for the #1 school on this list
Keep going
The Most Selective Colleges in America
Lowest share of applicants admitted. Selectivity measures demand and class size, not teaching quality.
Colleges with the Highest SAT Averages
Average SAT score of enrolled students. Reported by fewer than half of institutions as test-optional admissions has spread.
Colleges That Admit Nearly Everyone
Open and near-open admission four-year institutions, ranked by the share of applicants accepted.