Thought Harvard was tough to get into? It just got a whole lot tougher.

Many of the nation’s most elite universities recently announced the lowest admissions rates in history for freshmen entering school next fall. Even as colleges increase tuition and send graduates into an uncertain job market, the best ones are becoming less accessible for more Americans.

Harvard’s admissions rate dropped to an all-time low of 5.9 percent, down from last year’s 6.2 percent. This is the seventh consecutive year it’s fallen. The application pool was actually slightly down by 1.9 percent, yet 100 fewer freshmen were admitted than last year. Other schools that announced their most competitive admissions rates ever include Yale (6.8 percent), Princeton (7.86 percent), Dartmouth (9.4 percent), Northwestern University (15 percent), Georgetown (16.5 percent) and Barnard College (21 percent).