Minnesota might not have any Ivy League schools, but it's still a great place to get a college education.

There are a bunch of excellent colleges and universities here, both public and private. The state has a reputation for having high educational standards, so there are certainly a number of fantastic options for higher education in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Over half of the adults in Minnesota have at least an associate's degree, which shows how important education is here.

Some schools in Minnesota are harder to get into than others, and despite what you might think, not all of the most difficult schools to get into are private institutions. Here's a ranking of the four schools in Minnesota that are the most difficult to get into according to Niche.

The Hardest Minnesota Colleges & Universities To Get Into

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4 University of Minnesota Crookston - Crookston, MN

One of the schools in the University of Minnesota system, which also includes their Twin Cities, Duluth, Rochester, and Morris campuses, the Crookston campus is among the state's higher education institutions with the lowest acceptance rate.

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Niche ranks Crookston very highly in the categories of academics, value, safety, diversity, and the school's dorms. On top of that, it is ranked among the 50 best small colleges in the country.

READ MORE: These are the toughest schools to get into across the border in Wisconsin

Getting into The U of M Crookston is much more difficult when compared to some other U of M schools. Crookston's acceptance rate is 48%. Compared to the Twin Cities campus and its 73% acceptance rate, and that's a pretty big difference.

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3 St. Olaf College - Northfield, MN

St. Olaf is among the 5 best Christian colleges in the country, with Niche giving the school high report card marks on their campus, in academics, in diversity, and in campus food options.

St. Olaf is also among the 20 best schools with no application fee in the country.

The acceptance rate for St. Olaf is 47%, which makes it it the third-hardest school to get into in Minnesota.

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2 Macalester College - St. Paul, MN

Rated by Niche as the best college in Minnesota Macalester gets excellent grades on their report card in academics, diversity, value, student life, safety, professors, and location.

Macalester is also among the best schools in the country in the categories of Best Colleges with No Application Fee (#3), Best Liberal Arts Colleges (#14), and Best Small Colleges in America (#15) according to Niche.

Even though it is the highest-rated college in Minnesota overall, getting into classes at this Twin Cities area school is the second hardest in the Land of 10,000 Lakes with an acceptance rate of only 31%.

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1 Carleton College - Northfield, MN

Another school in Northfield appears on the list, making it home to two of the toughest schools to get into in Minnesota. Carleton College is the school that claims the title of the toughest institution to get into.

Carleton is ranked second overall among colleges in Minnesota by Niche (just behind Macalester), but it is harder to get into than all of the other schools in the state.

On Carleton's report card, Niche gives the school high scores in the categories of academics, value, diversity, and professors.

A whole 13 percentage points lower than the second most difficult school to get into, Carleton College's acceptance rate is only 18%. Compare that to the first school on this list, and that's a whole 30% difference in acceptance rates.

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