The Best Eastern Small Colleges
These are the top ranked small, public and private, four-year colleges in the East 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 Amherst College. Learn how the Best Small Colleges rankings are calculated on our ranking methodology page.
Washington & Jefferson College
- Private 4 Year
- Washington, PA
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4.0 | 2 reviews
- 1,309 total enrollment
Washington & Jefferson is a private liberal arts college known for undergraduate sciences, pre-med, and pre-law. The historic campus is in the small city of Washington near Pittsburgh.
- SAT Range 1010-1250
- Avg GPA 3.54
- Acceptance Rate 81%
- Net Price $22,702
Chatham University
- Private 4 Year
- Pittsburgh, PA
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1.0 | 2 reviews
- 2,309 total enrollment
Chatham is a private university known for undergraduate sustainability, environmental studies, and the health sciences. The historic campus is in Pittsburgh's residential Shadyside neighborhood.
- SAT Range 1070-1295
- Avg GPA 3.86
- Acceptance Rate 62%
- Net Price $31,280
Elizabethtown College
- Private 4 Year
- Elizabethtown, PA
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| 0 reviews
- 2,283 total enrollment
Elizabethtown is a private liberal arts college known for undergraduate occupational therapy, business, and education. The residential campus is in a small central Pennsylvania borough and has historic Church of the Brethren ties.
- SAT Range 1105-1310
- Avg GPA 3.66
- Acceptance Rate 78%
- Net Price $27,760
Roberts Wesleyan University
- Private 4 Year
- Rochester, NY
-
| 0 reviews
- 1,960 total enrollment
Roberts Wesleyan is a private Christian university known for undergraduate nursing and teacher education. The suburban campus sits outside Rochester in western New York.
- SAT Range 990-1305
- Avg GPA 3.6
- Acceptance Rate 71%
- Net Price $23,275
Wagner College
- Private 4 Year
- Staten Island, NY
-
| 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 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
Juniata College
- Private 4 Year
- Huntingdon, PA
-
5.0 | 2 reviews
- 1,321 total enrollment
Juniata is a private liberal arts college known for undergraduate natural sciences and its Program of Emphasis, which lets students design individualized majors. The residential campus sits in the small town of Huntingdon along the Juniata River.
- SAT Range 1130-1320
- Avg GPA 3.81
- Acceptance Rate 79%
- Net Price $24,580
DeSales University
- Private 4 Year
- Center Valley, PA
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3.0 | 2 reviews
- 2,972 total enrollment
DeSales is a private Catholic university known for undergraduate theatre, nursing, and business. The suburban campus is in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley.
- SAT Range 1090-1260
- Avg GPA 3.39
- Acceptance Rate 77%
- Net Price $31,732
SUNY Polytechnic Institute
- Public 4 Year
- Utica, NY
-
| 0 reviews
- 2,733 total enrollment
SUNY Poly is a public polytechnic institute known for undergraduate engineering, computer science, and cybersecurity. The Utica-area campus sits in Central New York.
- SAT Range 1025-1370
- Avg GPA 3.7
- Acceptance Rate 81%
- Net Price $14,782
Lebanon Valley College
- Private 4 Year
- Annville, PA
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3.5 | 2 reviews
- 2,146 total enrollment
Lebanon Valley is a private liberal arts college known for undergraduate music and physical therapy. The residential campus sits in the small town of Annville.
- SAT Range 1140-1302
- Avg GPA 3.79
- Acceptance Rate 84%
- Net Price $27,995
Lycoming College
- Private 4 Year
- Williamsport, PA
-
| 0 reviews
- 1,012 total enrollment
Lycoming is a private liberal arts college known for undergraduate biology, archaeology, and business. The residential campus sits in Williamsport along the Susquehanna River in north-central Pennsylvania.
- SAT Range 1080-1300
- Avg GPA 3.57
- Acceptance Rate 74%
- Net Price $20,492
Massachusetts Maritime Academy
- Public 4 Year
- Buzzards Bay, MA
-
| 0 reviews
- 1,488 total enrollment
Mass Maritime is a public maritime academy known for undergraduate marine transportation, marine engineering, and maritime business. Most students join a regiment of cadets on a campus along the Cape Cod Canal in Buzzards Bay.
- SAT Range 1030-1185
- Avg GPA 3.25
- Acceptance Rate 95%
- Net Price $13,546
Gordon College
- Private 4 Year
- Wenham, MA
-
| 0 reviews
- 1,595 total enrollment
Gordon is a private Christian liberal arts college known for undergraduate music, education, and psychology. Most students live on a wooded residential campus in the small North Shore town of Wenham.
- SAT Range 1130-1355
- Avg GPA 3.58
- Acceptance Rate 69%
- Net Price $25,299
Saint Vincent College
- Private 4 Year
- Latrobe, PA
-
| 0 reviews
- 1,440 total enrollment
Saint Vincent is a private Benedictine liberal arts college known for undergraduate business and biology. The campus shares its grounds with Saint Vincent Archabbey in a small western Pennsylvania town.
- SAT Range 1020-1230
- Avg GPA 3.6
- Acceptance Rate 62%
- Net Price $23,758
Drew University
- Private 4 Year
- Madison, NJ
-
| 0 reviews
- 2,232 total enrollment
Drew is a private liberal arts university known for undergraduate theater, political science, and the humanities. The forested campus sits in suburban Madison near New York City.
- SAT Range 1103-1338
- Avg GPA 3.1
- Acceptance Rate 68%
- Net Price $28,425
College of Our Lady of the Elms
- Private 4 Year
- Chicopee, MA
-
3.5 | 4 reviews
- 1,268 total enrollment
Elms College is a private Catholic college known for undergraduate nursing and education. The small campus is in Chicopee in western Massachusetts.
- SAT Range 1150-1320
- Avg GPA 3.42
- Acceptance Rate 85%
- Net Price $19,870
SUNY Maritime College
- Public 4 Year
- Throggs Neck, NY
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5.0 | 1 reviews
- 1,413 total enrollment
SUNY Maritime is a public maritime college known for undergraduate marine transportation, marine engineering, and naval architecture. The waterfront campus occupies historic Fort Schuyler on the Throggs Neck peninsula in the Bronx.
- SAT Range 1123-1288
- Avg GPA 3.4
- Acceptance Rate 72%
- Net Price $20,312