College Rankings: Top Liberal Arts Colleges in the US

Liberal arts colleges are popular choices for students because of the broad education they offer. The field of liberal arts is broad, encompassing majors from art and English to history and political science. Read on to learn how to find some of the top liberal arts colleges in the country, including a few of our own picks.

Different Criteria, Different Rankings

Definitions of what makes a top liberal arts college differ from source to source. The U.S. News and World Report rankings, for instance, cite measurable qualities such as percentage of students accepted, alumni giving rates, and student-to-faculty ratios. The Princeton Review, on the other hand, relies on feedback from students at each school. The website CollegeNews.org reports that the top liberal arts colleges in the United States share three main qualities: small class sizes, accessibility of faculty, and an intensely scholarly experience. Prospective students should take into account the criteria that go into rankings to find a school that fits their needs.

Selectivity and Class Sizes

Generally speaking, more selective schools (those with lower acceptance rates, high average test scores, and a high ratio of acceptance to matriculation) are more desirable schools. The lower acceptance rate guarantees that the students accepted are at the pinnacle of the applicant pool. At highly competitive colleges, factors beyond acceptance rates, test scores, and enrollment ratios are weighed in admissions decisions. These factors include admissions essays, difficulty of high school coursework, and recommendations from teachers. Amherst College often heads the list of the most selective liberal arts schools in the country, with average SAT scores in the 1350 to 1560 range and a 19% admission rate.

U.S. News and World Report's 2007 report ranks liberal arts schools based on their selectivity. Top schools include:
  • Swarthmore College
  • Pomona College
  • Middlebury College
  • Haverford College
  • Wesleyan University
  • Grinnell College
Small class sizes are also desirable, for the high level of individualized attention they can provide. Williams College and Kenyon College lead the pack, with a student-to-faculty ratio of 7:1 and an average class size of 14, respectively.

Quality of Life: The Intangibles of the College Experience

The quality of classroom instruction is important, but most students also seek schools with lively social scenes and extracurricular activities. Many colleges cater to specific interests. Located on the coast of Maine, Bowdoin College attracts students who love outdoor activities like mountain climbing, kayaking, and skiing. Pomona College hosts an annual "Death by Chocolate" event in December, in which the school distributes free chocolate to students with a sweet tooth. Golf Digest magazine recently named Colgate University's golf course one of the five best college courses in the country.

Academic Excellence in the Liberal Arts

Unlike larger institutions that focus most of their attention on research, liberal arts schools concentrate on teaching. The quality of a school's instruction is measured in several ways: ratio of full-time to part-time faculty, resources available to faculty, and percentage of faculty with terminal degrees in their fields. Swarthmore College, for example, boasts 98% of total faculty with terminal degrees. U.S. News and World Report uses a five-point scale and peer reviewers to determine schools' academic reputations. Williams College came out on top in 2007, with a score of 4.7.

Rankings for liberal arts schools vary from source to source. Savvy students will consult as many reports as they can find, but keep in mind that a high rank does not necessarily mean the school will meet their needs. To find out whether a prospective school is a good fit, visit the campus and talk to current students to make sure that the school's culture is a good match for their personalities.

Sources:
"Amherst College," Yahoo Education
"Liberal Arts Colleges: Top Schools," US News and World Report
Princeton Review
Swarthmore College