The Best Small Colleges
These are the top ranked small, public and private, four-year colleges in the United States as ranked by CollegeSimply. These schools all have total enrollment under 3,000. Small colleges allow students a more intimate and personalized experience where it's more likely you will get to know your professors. Leading the list for 2027 is California Institute of Technology. Learn how the Best Small Colleges rankings are calculated on our ranking methodology page.
Wagner College
- Private 4 Year
- Staten Island, NY
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| 0 reviews
- 2,001 total enrollment
Wagner is a private liberal arts college known for undergraduate nursing, theater, and business. The hilltop campus on Staten Island overlooks New York Harbor.
- SAT Range 1190-1290
- Avg GPA 3.5
- Acceptance Rate 88%
- Net Price $28,033
Salve Regina University
- Private 4 Year
- Newport, RI
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4.0 | 2 reviews
- 2,791 total enrollment
Salve Regina is a private Catholic university known for undergraduate nursing and historic preservation. The Newport campus overlooks the Atlantic and incorporates several Gilded Age mansions.
- SAT Range 1160-1330
- Avg GPA 3.52
- Acceptance Rate 68%
- Net Price $38,307
Saint Mary's College of California
- Private 4 Year
- Moraga, CA
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| 0 reviews
- 2,734 total enrollment
Saint Mary's is a private Catholic college known for undergraduate business and a Great Books liberal arts program. The residential campus lies in the hills of Moraga in the East Bay.
- SAT Range 1070-1253
- Avg GPA 3.6
- Acceptance Rate 87%
- Net Price $35,332
Maryland Institute College of Art
- Private 4 Year
- Baltimore, MD
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| 0 reviews
- 1,687 total enrollment
MICA is a private art and design college known for undergraduate illustration, graphic design, and fine arts. The urban campus lies in Baltimore's Station North Arts District.
- SAT Range 1078-1305
- Avg GPA 3.47
- Acceptance Rate 77%
- Net Price $47,834
Augustana University
- Private 4 Year
- Sioux Falls, SD
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5.0 | 1 reviews
- 2,390 total enrollment
Augustana is a private university known for undergraduate nursing, education, and business. The residential campus is in Sioux Falls, South Dakota's largest city.
- SAT Range 1150-1370
- Avg GPA 3.76
- Acceptance Rate 68%
- Net Price $24,977
Northwest University
- Private 4 Year
- Kirkland, WA
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| 0 reviews
- 1,053 total enrollment
Northwest University is a private Christian university known for undergraduate nursing, ministry, and business. The suburban campus sits in Kirkland east of Seattle.
- SAT Range 1040-1350
- Avg GPA 3.41
- Acceptance Rate 83%
- Net Price $24,251
Saint Michael's College
- Private 4 Year
- Colchester, VT
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| 0 reviews
- 1,323 total enrollment
Saint Michael's is a private Catholic liberal arts college known for undergraduate education, biology, and business. The residential campus sits near Burlington and Lake Champlain in northwestern Vermont.
- SAT Range 1120-1280
- Avg GPA 3.27
- Acceptance Rate 85%
- Net Price $27,982
Seattle Pacific University
- Private 4 Year
- Seattle, WA
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| 0 reviews
- 2,261 total enrollment
Seattle Pacific is a private Christian university known for undergraduate nursing and education. The urban campus sits in Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood.
- SAT Range 1050-1320
- Avg GPA 3.53
- Acceptance Rate 83%
- Net Price $25,232
University of North Carolina School of the Arts
- Public 4 Year
- Winston Salem, NC
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| 0 reviews
- 1,111 total enrollment
UNCSA is a public arts conservatory known for undergraduate dance, drama, music, and filmmaking. Students train on a specialized campus in Winston-Salem devoted to intensive performing-arts study.
- SAT Range 1140-1370
- Avg GPA 3.75
- Acceptance Rate 30%
- Net Price $13,140
Hendrix College
- Private 4 Year
- Conway, AR
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| 0 reviews
- 1,110 total enrollment
Hendrix is a private liberal arts college known for undergraduate sciences and its Odyssey experiential-learning program. Most students live on the residential campus in the college town of Conway.
- SAT Range 1123-1348
- Avg GPA 3.79
- Acceptance Rate 56%
- Net Price $24,699
Oklahoma City University
- Private 4 Year
- Oklahoma City, OK
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| 0 reviews
- 2,966 total enrollment
Oklahoma City University is a private university known for undergraduate dance, music, and theater. The urban campus is affiliated with the United Methodist Church.
- SAT Range 1050-1260
- Avg GPA 3.77
- Acceptance Rate 77%
- Net Price $24,051
Dominican University of California
- Private 4 Year
- San Rafael, CA
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2.5 | 2 reviews
- 1,900 total enrollment
A private Catholic university known for undergraduate nursing, health sciences, and business. The San Rafael campus sits in Marin County north of San Francisco.
- SAT Range 1210-1300
- Avg GPA 3.66
- Acceptance Rate 83%
- Net Price $37,456
Valparaiso University
- Private 4 Year
- Valparaiso, IN
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4.0 | 2 reviews
- 2,579 total enrollment
Valparaiso is a private Lutheran university known for undergraduate engineering, meteorology, and nursing. The residential campus sits in a college town in northwest Indiana.
- SAT Range 1060-1280
- Avg GPA 3.76
- Acceptance Rate 89%
- Net Price $21,766
Knox College
- Private 4 Year
- Galesburg, IL
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| 0 reviews
- 1,136 total enrollment
Knox is a private liberal arts college known for undergraduate creative writing and the sciences. The historic campus in Galesburg includes Old Main, site of an 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debate.
- SAT Range 1180-1440
- Avg GPA NA
- Acceptance Rate 71%
- Net Price $25,709
Goucher College
- Private 4 Year
- Baltimore, MD
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| 0 reviews
- 1,459 total enrollment
Goucher is a private liberal arts college known for undergraduate creative writing, dance, and international studies. Every undergraduate completes a required study abroad experience.
- SAT Range 1090-1325
- Avg GPA 3.23
- Acceptance Rate 78%
- Net Price $26,913
College of Saint Benedict
- Private 4 Year
- Saint Joseph, MN
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| 0 reviews
- 1,429 total enrollment
College of Saint Benedict is a private Catholic women's liberal arts college known for undergraduate nursing. Students share classes and many programs with men from nearby Saint John's University under a coordinate college system.
- SAT Range 1048-1233
- Avg GPA 3.72
- Acceptance Rate 92%
- Net Price $28,400
Saint Johns University
- Private 4 Year
- Collegeville, MN
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5.0 | 1 reviews
- 1,572 total enrollment
Saint John's is a private Benedictine men's college known for undergraduate liberal arts. The wooded Collegeville campus centers on a historic abbey and shares academics with the nearby College of Saint Benedict.
- SAT Range 941-1228
- Avg GPA 3.51
- Acceptance Rate 91%
- Net Price $28,504
Augustana College
- Private 4 Year
- Rock Island, IL
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4.0 | 1 reviews
- 2,570 total enrollment
Augustana is a private liberal arts college known for undergraduate biology and music. The campus sits along the Mississippi River in Rock Island.
- SAT Range 1030-1270
- Avg GPA 3.3
- Acceptance Rate 63%
- Net Price $24,714