Spike Rankings 2027
Best Small Colleges in America
Colleges with under 5,000 students, where classes and campuses stay close. Ranked on how their students do. How Spike ranks
How this list is ranked.
The Best Colleges order, kept to colleges with fewer than 5,000 students.
67 colleges qualify from Spike’s guide of 233. Fewer than 5,000 students. Colleges without enough reported data are left out.
Guide updated . Data snapshot: . Sources and data years.
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67 colleges
Number 1: Massachusetts Institute of Technology- 3 students per teacher
- 96% graduate
- $14,815 average net price
Number 2: California Institute of Technology- 3 students per teacher
- 92% graduate
- $8,509 average net price
Number 3: Dartmouth College- 7 students per teacher
- 95% graduate
- $26,707 average net price
Number 4: Rice University- 6 students per teacher
- 95% graduate
- $11,164 average net price
Number 5: Webb Institute- 11 students per teacher
- 88% graduate
- $14,510 average net price
Number 6: Washington and Lee University- 7 students per teacher
- 95% graduate
- $25,279 average net price
Number 7: The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art- 8 students per teacher
- 81% graduate
- $12,999 average net price
Number 8: University of Portland- 9 students per teacher
- 80% graduate
- $28,803 average net price
Number 9: University of the Pacific- 13 students per teacher
- 71% graduate
- $24,186 average net price
Number 10: Stevens Institute of Technology- 11 students per teacher
- 88% graduate
- $37,396 average net price
Number 11: College of the Holy Cross- 9 students per teacher
- 87% graduate
- $38,829 average net price
Number 12: Bentley University- 12 students per teacher
- 87% graduate
- $38,969 average net price
Number 13: Lafayette College- 10 students per teacher
- 87% graduate
- $35,879 average net price
Number 14: Trinity College- 9 students per teacher
- 83% graduate
- $37,004 average net price
Number 15: Berea College- 9 students per teacher
- 62% graduate
- $5,836 average net price
Number 16: Centre College- 10 students per teacher
- 80% graduate
- $19,980 average net price
Number 17: Creighton University- 11 students per teacher
- 83% graduate
- $32,456 average net price
Number 18: Rhodes College- 9 students per teacher
- 83% graduate
- $28,776 average net price
Number 19: Illinois Institute of Technology- 14 students per teacher
- 73% graduate
- $22,443 average net price
Number 20: Bucknell University- 9 students per teacher
- 86% graduate
- $50,021 average net price
Number 21: Pitzer College- 10 students per teacher
- 83% graduate
- $36,135 average net price
Number 22: Trinity University- 8 students per teacher
- 83% graduate
- $22,962 average net price
Number 23: Pepperdine University- 12 students per teacher
- 81% graduate
- $48,065 average net price
Number 24: Kettering University- 11 students per teacher
- 72% graduate
- $29,797 average net price
Number 25: Occidental College- 9 students per teacher
- 80% graduate
- $37,470 average net price
Number 26: University of Redlands- 10 students per teacher
- 66% graduate
- $30,924 average net price
Number 27: Mount Holyoke College- 9 students per teacher
- 83% graduate
- $30,861 average net price
Number 28: Seattle University- 10 students per teacher
- 73% graduate
- $34,324 average net price
Number 29: Connecticut College- 9 students per teacher
- 82% graduate
- $35,960 average net price
Number 30: Bradley University- 11 students per teacher
- 75% graduate
- $22,469 average net price
Number 31: Art Center College of Design- 9 students per teacher
- 80% graduate
- $48,389 average net price
Number 32: Dickinson College- 11 students per teacher
- 77% graduate
- $28,634 average net price
Number 33: Franklin and Marshall College- 9 students per teacher
- 81% graduate
- $33,445 average net price
Number 34: Lawrence University- 7 students per teacher
- 78% graduate
- $22,758 average net price
Number 35: California Lutheran University- 13 students per teacher
- 69% graduate
- $26,445 average net price
Number 36: Gettysburg College- 10 students per teacher
- 81% graduate
- $33,015 average net price
Number 37: Butler University- 11 students per teacher
- 79% graduate
- $37,499 average net price
Number 38: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology- 12 students per teacher
- 76% graduate
- $43,360 average net price
Number 39: The University of the South- 9 students per teacher
- 79% graduate
- $31,931 average net price
Number 40: Agnes Scott College- 10 students per teacher
- 70% graduate
- $24,648 average net price
Number 41: Clarkson University- 13 students per teacher
- 73% graduate
- $32,137 average net price
Number 42: Rhode Island School of Design- 8 students per teacher
- 90% graduate
- $50,513 average net price
Number 43: Willamette University- 13 students per teacher
- 71% graduate
- $25,908 average net price
Number 44: Lewis & Clark College- 12 students per teacher
- 75% graduate
- $34,286 average net price
Number 45: Kenyon College- 9 students per teacher
- 84% graduate
- $33,279 average net price
Number 46: Spelman College- 11 students per teacher
- 78% graduate
- $46,089 average net price
Number 47: Wentworth Institute of Technology- 17 students per teacher
- 66% graduate
- $30,134 average net price
Number 48: Whitman College- 10 students per teacher
- 78% graduate
- $29,486 average net price
Number 49: Drake University- 11 students per teacher
- 72% graduate
- $29,415 average net price
Number 50: Milwaukee School of Engineering- 12 students per teacher
- 65% graduate
- $27,027 average net price
Number 51: Whittier College- 8 students per teacher
- 58% graduate
- $24,940 average net price
Number 52: Saint Edward's University- 12 students per teacher
- 60% graduate
- $26,034 average net price
Number 53: Denison University- 9 students per teacher
- 79% graduate
- $40,163 average net price
Number 54: Furman University- 10 students per teacher
- 76% graduate
- $31,764 average net price
Number 55: Pratt Institute-Main- 9 students per teacher
- 74% graduate
- $48,876 average net price
Number 56: Southwestern University- 11 students per teacher
- 73% graduate
- $29,435 average net price
Number 57: Loyola University New Orleans- 12 students per teacher
- 60% graduate
- $21,888 average net price
Number 58: School of Visual Arts- 9 students per teacher
- 77% graduate
- $59,593 average net price
Number 59: Hampton University- 15 students per teacher
- 61% graduate
- $25,683 average net price
Number 60: Bard College- 9 students per teacher
- 68% graduate
- $27,126 average net price
Number 61: Xavier University- 10 students per teacher
- 70% graduate
- $31,905 average net price
Number 62: Emerson College- 14 students per teacher
- 79% graduate
- $49,215 average net price
Number 63: Morehouse College- 14 students per teacher
- 58% graduate
- $38,655 average net price
Number 64: Xavier University of Louisiana- 11 students per teacher
- 52% graduate
- $19,722 average net price
Number 65: California Institute of the Arts- 7 students per teacher
- 65% graduate
- $49,996 average net price
Number 66: Tuskegee University- 14 students per teacher
- 55% graduate
- $40,141 average net price
Number 67: Clark Atlanta University- 16 students per teacher
- 44% graduate
- $38,626 average net price
How to use this ranking.
Visit or watch a class if you can, because small can mean close-knit or limited. Check how many majors, labs and activities a college of that size can support.
What the rank does not tell you.
The size cut-off is under 5,000 students, which is a line drawn for this list. Class size and campus feel depend on the college, not just its enrollment.
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.