The Best Midwestern Small Colleges
These are the top ranked small, public and private, four-year colleges in the Midwest 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 Carleton College. Learn how the Best Small Colleges rankings are calculated on our ranking methodology page.
Indiana Wesleyan University Marion
- Private 4 Year
- Marion, IN
-
| 0 reviews
- 2,204 total enrollment
Indiana Wesleyan is a private Christian university known for undergraduate nursing, education, and ministry. The residential campus in Marion is affiliated with the Wesleyan Church.
- SAT Range 960-1180
- Avg GPA 3.61
- Acceptance Rate 89%
- Net Price $23,402
Concordia College at Moorhead
- Private 4 Year
- Moorhead, MN
-
| 0 reviews
- 1,935 total enrollment
Concordia College is a private liberal arts college known for undergraduate music and education. Most students live on the residential campus in Moorhead, across the river from Fargo.
- SAT Range 1160-1420
- Avg GPA 3.58
- Acceptance Rate 63%
- Net Price $25,190
Lake Forest College
- Private 4 Year
- Lake Forest, IL
-
| 0 reviews
- 1,837 total enrollment
Lake Forest is a private liberal arts college known for undergraduate economics, business, and biology. The residential campus sits in a North Shore suburb of Chicago near Lake Michigan.
- SAT Range 1190-1393
- Avg GPA 3.62
- Acceptance Rate 57%
- Net Price $31,225
Augustana University
- Private 4 Year
- Sioux Falls, SD
-
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
Valparaiso University
- Private 4 Year
- Valparaiso, IN
-
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
-
| 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
College of Saint Benedict
- Private 4 Year
- Saint Joseph, MN
-
| 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
-
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
-
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
The College of Saint Scholastica
- Private 4 Year
- Duluth, MN
-
| 0 reviews
- 2,930 total enrollment
St. Scholastica is a private Benedictine college known for undergraduate nursing and health sciences. The wooded campus overlooks Lake Superior in Duluth.
- SAT Range 1110-1310
- Avg GPA 3.5
- Acceptance Rate 93%
- Net Price $26,083
Hamline University
- Private 4 Year
- Saint Paul, MN
-
2.0 | 2 reviews
- 2,565 total enrollment
Hamline is a private university known for undergraduate education, business, and the liberal arts. The residential campus sits in a neighborhood setting in Saint Paul within the Twin Cities.
- SAT Range 1133-1391
- Avg GPA 3.48
- Acceptance Rate 88%
- Net Price $22,390
Nebraska Methodist College of Nursing & Allied Health
- Private 4 Year
- Omaha, NE
-
| 0 reviews
- 1,067 total enrollment
Nebraska Methodist College is a private college known for undergraduate nursing and allied health programs. The urban Omaha campus is affiliated with Methodist Health System.
- SAT Range -
- Avg GPA 3.55
- Acceptance Rate 73%
- Net Price $21,634
University of Evansville
- Private 4 Year
- Evansville, IN
-
| 0 reviews
- 2,114 total enrollment
University of Evansville is a private university known for undergraduate theatre and engineering. Many undergrads study abroad at Harlaxton College, its campus in a historic English manor.
- SAT Range 1045-1300
- Avg GPA 3.71
- Acceptance Rate 78%
- Net Price $18,773
Taylor University
- Private 4 Year
- Upland, IN
-
4.0 | 4 reviews
- 2,548 total enrollment
Taylor is a private Christian university known for undergraduate education, business, and nursing. Most students live on the residential campus in the small town of Upland.
- SAT Range 1070-1330
- Avg GPA 3.87
- Acceptance Rate 74%
- Net Price $26,178
Beloit College
- Private 4 Year
- Beloit, WI
-
5.0 | 4 reviews
- 1,004 total enrollment
Beloit is a private liberal arts college known for undergraduate anthropology and the sciences. The historic residential campus overlooks the Rock River in southern Wisconsin.
- SAT Range 1200-1430
- Avg GPA 3.33
- Acceptance Rate 63%
- Net Price $24,455
Coe College
- Private 4 Year
- Cedar Rapids, IA
-
| 0 reviews
- 1,195 total enrollment
Coe is a private liberal arts college known for undergraduate writing, biology, and business. Most undergrads live on the residential campus in Cedar Rapids.
- SAT Range 1070-1290
- Avg GPA 3.74
- Acceptance Rate 64%
- Net Price $20,864
Hanover College
- Private 4 Year
- Hanover, IN
-
0.0 | 1 reviews
- 1,243 total enrollment
Hanover is a private liberal arts college known for undergraduate biology, business, and psychology. The campus overlooks the Ohio River from wooded bluffs in a small southern Indiana town.
- SAT Range 1110-1280
- Avg GPA 3.79
- Acceptance Rate 84%
- Net Price $23,683
Ohio Wesleyan University
- Private 4 Year
- Delaware, OH
-
| 0 reviews
- 1,525 total enrollment
Ohio Wesleyan is a private liberal arts college known for undergraduate zoology, economics, and international studies. Most undergrads live on a residential campus in Delaware, a small city north of Columbus.
- SAT Range 1105-1350
- Avg GPA 3.54
- Acceptance Rate 56%
- Net Price $23,006