Top 10 liberal arts colleges in the US
Scroll down for the full list of best liberal arts colleges in the US
Liberal Arts Rank 2022 | US College Rank 2022 | University | City | State |
1 | 22 | Amherst College | Amherst | Massachusetts |
2 | 23 | Williams College | Williamstown | Massachusetts |
3 | 25 | Pomona College | Claremont | California |
4 | 29 | Swarthmore College | Swarthmore | Pennsylvania |
5 | 31 | Wellesley College | Wellesley | Massachusetts |
6 | 34 | Claremont McKenna College | Claremont | California |
7 | 35 | Carleton College | Northfield | Minnesota |
8 | =36 | Haverford College | Haverford | Pennsylvania |
9 | 38 | Bowdoin College | Brunswick | Maine |
10 | 39 | Smith College | Northampton | Massachusetts |
Choosing a college in the United States is no easy decision, not least because there are so many types of universities, colleges and schools.
Liberal arts colleges were once a unique feature of American higher education, but the model has spread to other countries around the world.
At liberal arts colleges there is an emphasis on undergraduate study that includes a wide range of subjects, from science to humanities.
In addition to the interdisciplinary curriculum, the best liberal arts colleges tend to have smaller student populations than other institutions. Class sizes are often small and academic staff tend to focus more on teaching than research, compared with other colleges.
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Liberal arts schools are private, not-for-profit colleges and generally charge the same tuition fees for in-state and out-of-state students, unlike public universities. At the top end, annual tuition for an undergraduate degree at a liberal arts college is just under $50,000.
The best liberal arts colleges can be found across the United States, with clusters in Massachusetts, California and Pennsylvania. Find the top 100 liberal arts colleges below (ranking is calculated according to the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education US College Rankings 2022).
The ranking is designed to answer the questions that matter the most to students and their families. While previously we have used results from the US Student Survey for the ranking, we were unable to conduct a survey in 2020 and 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, we have used data from the 2019 survey to inform this year’s ranking. The full methodology can be found here.
Top 5 liberal arts colleges in the United States
5. Wellesley College
-Despite only having about 2,400 undergraduate students, Wellesley College is home to more than 150 student clubs and organisations.
-The alumni network includes politician Hillary Rodham Clinton and journalist Diane Sawyer.
The women-only college offers more than 1,000 courses and also allows students to take courses at other world-leading institutions, including the Brandeis University.
4. Swarthmore College
-Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania was one of the first co-educational colleges in the US, founded in 1864.
-Alongside the liberal arts curriculum, undergraduates can enrol on an engineering track.
Graduates include five Nobel prizewinners, 11 MacArthur Foundation fellows and 30 Rhodes Scholars.
Despite the rural setting, the city of Philadelphia is only 25 minutes away by train.
3. Pomona College
-California-based Pomona College offers 48 majors for undergraduates across the arts, humanities, social sciences and natural sciences.
-The small student body of about 1,640 undergraduates is diverse, with 60 countries represented.
Many students take advantage of research and work opportunities in the area, including the geographical diversity around California, and the wealth of work experience in nearby Los Angeles.
2. Williams College
-The small academic community at Williams College in Massachusetts is close-knit, consisting of about 2,000 undergraduate students.
-An undergraduate degree in the liberal arts takes four years to complete, covering humanities, sciences and social sciences.
The college was established in 1793 and in some departments the teaching is modelled on the tutorial system at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in the UK, where students are taught one-to-one or in small groups.
1. Amherst College
-Undergraduates at Amherst College study a completely open curriculum without any core modules or restrictions on the subjects or courses to be taken in certain years.
-Amherst is highly selective and located in Massachusetts, which often encourages rivalry with Williams College, which is second in the liberal arts ranking.
Classes are extremely small to provide interaction with teachers. About 90 per cent of all courses have fewer than 30 students enrolled.
Top 100 liberal arts colleges in the United States
Liberal Arts Rank 2022 | US College Rank 2022 | University | City | State |
1 | 22 | Amherst College | Amherst | Massachusetts |
2 | 23 | Williams College | Williamstown | Massachusetts |
3 | 25 | Pomona College | Claremont | California |
4 | 29 | Swarthmore College | Swarthmore | Pennsylvania |
5 | 31 | Wellesley College | Wellesley | Massachusetts |
6 | 34 | Claremont McKenna College | Claremont | California |
7 | 35 | Carleton College | Northfield | Minnesota |
8 | =36 | Haverford College | Haverford | Pennsylvania |
9 | 38 | Bowdoin College | Brunswick | Maine |
10 | 39 | Smith College | Northampton | Massachusetts |
11 | =40 | Middlebury College | Middlebury | Vermont |
12 | =43 | Wesleyan University | Middletown | Connecticut |
13 | 47 | United States Military Academy | West Point | New York |
14 | 50 | Barnard College | New York | New York |
15 | =52 | Colgate University | Hamilton | New York |
16 | =55 | Mount Holyoke College | South Hadley | Massachusetts |
17 | =58 | Hamilton College | Clinton | New York |
18 | =61 | Wake Forest University | Winston-Salem | North Carolina |
19 | 64 | Bates College | Lewiston | Maine |
20 | 65 | Vassar College | Poughkeepsie | New York |
21 | 66 | Davidson College | Davidson | North Carolina |
22 | 67 | Scripps College | Claremont | California |
23 | 68 | Bryn Mawr College | Bryn Mawr | Pennsylvania |
24 | =69 | Grinnell College | Grinnell | Iowa |
25 | 73 | Lee University | Lexington | Virginia |
26 | 77 | Lafayette College | Easton | Pennsylvania |
27 | =81 | Bucknell University | Lewisburg | Pennsylvania |
28 | 84 | Franklin & Marshall College | Lancaster | Pennsylvania |
29 | 88 | Pitzer College | Claremont | California |
30 | 89 | Macalester College | Saint Paul | Minnesota |
31 | 92 | Reed College | Portland | Oregon |
32 | 93 | Kenyon College | Gambier | Ohio |
33 | 95 | Occidental College | Los Angeles | California |
34 | 98 | Whitman College | Walla Walla | Washington |
35 | =99 | Dickinson College | Carlisle | Pennsylvania |
36 | 102 | Skidmore College | Saratoga Springs | New York |
37 | =104 | Trinity College | Hartford | Connecticut |
38 | 106 | Trinity University | San Antonio | Texas |
39 | 108 | Rhodes College | Memphis | Tennessee |
40 | =109 | Connecticut College | New London | Connecticut |
41 | 112 | Oberlin College | Oberlin | Ohio |
42 | 114 | Denison University | Granville | Ohio |
43 | =115 | Colorado College | Colorado Springs | Colorado |
44 | =117 | College of the Holy Cross | Worcester | Massachusetts |
45 | 120 | DePauw University | Greencastle | Indiana |
=46 | =122 | Seattle University | Seattle | Washington |
=46 | =122 | Gettysburg College | Gettysburg | Pennsylvania |
48 | =126 | Spelman College | Atlanta | Georgia |
49 | =128 | Simmons University | Boston | Massachusetts |
50 | 134 | Union College | Schenectady | New York |
51 | =143 | Elon University | Elon | North Carolina |
52 | 147 | Willamette University | Salem | Oregon |
53 | 148 | Berea College | Berea | Kentucky |
54 | 149 | Furman University | Greenville | South Carolina |
=55 | =150 | St Olaf College | Northfield | Minnesota |
=55 | =150 | The College of Wooster | Wooster | Ohio |
=57 | =160 | Smith Colleges | Geneva | New York |
=57 | =160 | Wheaton College (Massachusetts) | Norton | Massachusetts |
=57 | =160 | Linfield College - McMinnville campus | McMinnville | Oregon |
60 | =164 | Allegheny College | Meadville | Pennsylvania |
61 | =166 | Muhlenberg College | Allentown | Pennsylvania |
62 | 168 | Lawrence University | Appleton | Wisconsin |
63 | 172 | Kalamazoo College | Kalamazoo | Michigan |
64 | =173 | Wheaton College (Illinois) | Wheaton | Illinois |
65 | =190 | Sewanee-The University of the South | Sewanee | Tennessee |
=66 | =192 | Lake Forest College | Lake Forest | Illinois |
=66 | =192 | Gonzaga University | Spokane | Washington |
=66 | =192 | Beloit College | Beloit | Wisconsin |
=66 | =192 | Lawrence University | Canton | New York |
=70 | =197 | Saint Mary's College of California | Moraga | California |
=70 | =197 | Westmont College | Santa Barbara | California |
72 | =200 | Sarah Lawrence College | Bronxville | New York |
=73 | =204 | Wesleyan University | Delaware | Ohio |
=73 | =204 | Washington College | Chestertown | Maryland |
75 | 206 | Gustavus Adolphus College | Saint Peter | Minnesota |
=76 | =207 | Susquehanna University | Selinsgrove | Pennsylvania |
=76 | =207 | Earlham College | Richmond | Indiana |
78 | =210 | Wofford College | Spartanburg | South Carolina |
79 | =217 | Westminster College (Utah) | Salt Lake City | Utah |
=80 | =219 | Providence College | Providence | Rhode Island |
=80 | =219 | Stonehill College | Easton | Massachusetts |
=82 | =223 | College of Saint Benedict | Saint Joseph | Minnesota |
=82 | =223 | Centre College | Danville | Kentucky |
84 | =227 | Miami University | Oxford | Ohio |
85 | =229 | Knox College | Galesburg | Illinois |
86 | =231 | Ithaca College | Ithaca | New York |
87 | =234 | Lewis & Clark College | Portland | Oregon |
88 | =236 | Mount Saint Mary's University | Los Angeles | California |
89 | =238 | Southwestern University | Georgetown | Texas |
90 | =238 | Adelphi University | Garden City | New York |
=91 | =244 | Mercer University | Macon | Georgia |
=91 | =244 | Albion College | Albion | Michigan |
=93 | =256 | Manhattan College | Riverdale | New York |
=93 | =256 | Saint Anselm College | Manchester | New Hampshire |
95 | =261 | Austin College | Sherman | Texas |
=96 | =264 | Rollins College | Winter Park | Florida |
=96 | =264 | Hope College | Holland | Michigan |
98 | =269 | Luther College | Decorah | Iowa |
99 | =271 | Augustana College (Illinois) | Rock Island | Illinois |
100 | =273 | Bard College | Annandale-On-Hudson | New York |
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