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Spike Rankings 2027

Best Liberal Arts Colleges in America

Small, teaching-focused colleges where most students study the arts and sciences, ranked on how their students do. How Spike ranks

  1. Number 1: Washington and Lee University
  2. Number 2: College of the Holy Cross
  3. Number 3: Lafayette College

How this list is ranked.

The Best Colleges order, kept to baccalaureate arts and sciences colleges.

30 colleges qualify from Spike’s guide of 233. Carnegie baccalaureate arts and sciences colleges only. Colleges without enough reported data are left out.

Guide updated . Data snapshot: . Sources and data years.

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30 colleges

  1. Number 1: Washington and Lee University

    Lexington, VA · Private · Liberal arts college · 1,881 students

    • 95% graduate
    • 7 students per teacher
    • $25,279 average net price
    Acceptance
    14%
    Net price
    $25,279
    SAT median
    1470

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  2. Number 2: College of the Holy Cross

    Worcester, MA · Private · Liberal arts college · 3,106 students

    • 87% graduate
    • 9 students per teacher
    • $38,829 average net price
    Acceptance
    18%
    Net price
    $38,829
    SAT median
    1330

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  3. Number 3: Lafayette College

    Easton, PA · Private · Liberal arts college · 2,757 students

    • 87% graduate
    • 10 students per teacher
    • $35,879 average net price
    Acceptance
    31%
    Net price
    $35,879
    SAT median
    1380

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  4. Number 4: Trinity College

    Hartford, CT · Private · Liberal arts college · 2,146 students

    • 83% graduate
    • 9 students per teacher
    • $37,004 average net price
    Acceptance
    29%
    Net price
    $37,004
    SAT median
    1407

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  5. Number 5: Berea College

    Berea, KY · Private · Liberal arts college · 1,513 students

    • 62% graduate
    • 9 students per teacher
    • $5,836 average net price
    Acceptance
    19%
    Net price
    $5,836
    SAT median
    1194

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  6. Number 6: Centre College

    Danville, KY · Private · Liberal arts college · 1,400 students

    • 80% graduate
    • 10 students per teacher
    • $19,980 average net price
    Acceptance
    54%
    Net price
    $19,980
    SAT median
    1350

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  7. Number 7: Rhodes College

    Memphis, TN · Private · Liberal arts college · 1,836 students

    • 83% graduate
    • 9 students per teacher
    • $28,776 average net price
    Acceptance
    50%
    Net price
    $28,776
    SAT median
    1410

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  8. Number 8: Bucknell University

    Lewisburg, PA · Private · Liberal arts college · 3,876 students

    • 86% graduate
    • 9 students per teacher
    • $50,021 average net price
    Acceptance
    29%
    Net price
    $50,021
    SAT median
    1373

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  9. Number 9: Pitzer College

    Claremont, CA · Private · Liberal arts college · 1,227 students

    • 83% graduate
    • 10 students per teacher
    • $36,135 average net price
    Acceptance
    25%
    Net price
    $36,135

    ViewAdd to list

  10. Number 10: Trinity University

    San Antonio, TX · Private · Liberal arts college · 2,505 students

    • 83% graduate
    • 8 students per teacher
    • $22,962 average net price
    Acceptance
    26%
    Net price
    $22,962
    SAT median
    1374

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  11. Number 11: Occidental College

    Los Angeles, CA · Private · Liberal arts college · 1,877 students

    • 80% graduate
    • 9 students per teacher
    • $37,470 average net price
    Acceptance
    44%
    Net price
    $37,470
    SAT median
    1415

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  12. Number 12: Mount Holyoke College

    South Hadley, MA · Private · Liberal arts college · 2,169 students

    • 83% graduate
    • 9 students per teacher
    • $30,861 average net price
    Acceptance
    36%
    Net price
    $30,861
    SAT median
    1405

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  13. Number 13: Connecticut College

    New London, CT · Private · Liberal arts college · 1,937 students

    • 82% graduate
    • 9 students per teacher
    • $35,960 average net price
    Acceptance
    37%
    Net price
    $35,960
    SAT median
    1405

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  14. Number 14: Dickinson College

    Carlisle, PA · Private · Liberal arts college · 2,273 students

    • 77% graduate
    • 11 students per teacher
    • $28,634 average net price
    Acceptance
    42%
    Net price
    $28,634

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  15. Number 15: Franklin and Marshall College

    Lancaster, PA · Private · Liberal arts college · 1,799 students

    • 81% graduate
    • 9 students per teacher
    • $33,445 average net price
    Acceptance
    28%
    Net price
    $33,445

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  16. Number 16: Lawrence University

    Appleton, WI · Private · Liberal arts college · 1,396 students

    • 78% graduate
    • 7 students per teacher
    • $22,758 average net price
    Acceptance
    64%
    Net price
    $22,758
    SAT median
    1345

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  17. Number 17: Gettysburg College

    Gettysburg, PA · Private · Liberal arts college · 2,099 students

    • 81% graduate
    • 10 students per teacher
    • $33,015 average net price
    Acceptance
    39%
    Net price
    $33,015
    SAT median
    1355

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  18. Number 18: The University of the South

    Sewanee, TN · Private · Liberal arts college · 1,607 students

    • 79% graduate
    • 9 students per teacher
    • $31,931 average net price
    Acceptance
    57%
    Net price
    $31,931
    SAT median
    1295

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  19. Number 19: Agnes Scott College

    Decatur, GA · Private · Liberal arts college · 836 students

    • 70% graduate
    • 10 students per teacher
    • $24,648 average net price
    Acceptance
    62%
    Net price
    $24,648

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  20. Number 20: Willamette University

    Salem, OR · Private · Liberal arts college · 1,592 students

    • 71% graduate
    • 13 students per teacher
    • $25,908 average net price
    Acceptance
    77%
    Net price
    $25,908

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  21. Number 21: Lewis & Clark College

    Portland, OR · Private · Liberal arts college · 2,120 students

    • 75% graduate
    • 12 students per teacher
    • $34,286 average net price
    Acceptance
    78%
    Net price
    $34,286
    SAT median
    1330

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  22. Number 22: Kenyon College

    Gambier, OH · Private · Liberal arts college · 1,732 students

    • 84% graduate
    • 9 students per teacher
    • $33,279 average net price
    Acceptance
    31%
    Net price
    $33,279
    SAT median
    1420

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  23. Number 23: Spelman College

    Atlanta, GA · Private · Liberal arts college · 3,414 students

    • 78% graduate
    • 11 students per teacher
    • $46,089 average net price
    Acceptance
    25%
    Net price
    $46,089

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  24. Number 24: Whitman College

    Walla Walla, WA · Private · Liberal arts college · 1,531 students

    • 78% graduate
    • 10 students per teacher
    • $29,486 average net price
    Acceptance
    38%
    Net price
    $29,486
    SAT median
    1375

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  25. Number 25: Whittier College

    Whittier, CA · Private · Liberal arts college · 764 students

    • 58% graduate
    • 8 students per teacher
    • $24,940 average net price
    Acceptance
    81%
    Net price
    $24,940
    SAT median
    1230

    ViewAdd to list

  26. Number 26: Denison University

    Granville, OH · Private · Liberal arts college · 2,380 students

    • 79% graduate
    • 9 students per teacher
    • $40,163 average net price
    Acceptance
    17%
    Net price
    $40,163
    SAT median
    1330

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  27. Number 27: Furman University

    Greenville, SC · Private · Liberal arts college · 2,379 students

    • 76% graduate
    • 10 students per teacher
    • $31,764 average net price
    Acceptance
    43%
    Net price
    $31,764
    SAT median
    1331

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  28. Number 28: Southwestern University

    Georgetown, TX · Private · Liberal arts college · 1,440 students

    • 73% graduate
    • 11 students per teacher
    • $29,435 average net price
    Acceptance
    43%
    Net price
    $29,435
    SAT median
    1240

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  29. Number 29: Bard College

    Annandale-On-Hudson, NY · Private · Liberal arts college · 2,414 students

    • 68% graduate
    • 9 students per teacher
    • $27,126 average net price
    Acceptance
    52%
    Net price
    $27,126

    ViewYour chancesAdd to list

  30. Number 30: Morehouse College

    Atlanta, GA · Private · Liberal arts college · 2,844 students

    • 58% graduate
    • 14 students per teacher
    • $38,655 average net price
    Acceptance
    44%
    Net price
    $38,655

    ViewYour chancesAdd to list

How to use this ranking.

Compare how much undergraduate teaching and research each college offers, and check which majors you can study. Smaller colleges may not have every program a larger university does.

What the rank does not tell you.

This list uses the Carnegie baccalaureate arts and sciences group. Some strong small colleges fall outside it, and a university can have a liberal arts feel without appearing here.

Spike ranks the colleges in its guide, not every college in America. Read the full method and its limits, or compare colleges by your own priorities.

What Spike does with this

A ranking is where to start looking.

Spike checks each college against your grades, budget and goals. Then it helps you build a list that holds up.

Free to start, right in your browser.