Best Small Colleges (2026)

How this list is ranked

Small colleges (under 3,000 undergraduates) trade big-school breadth for small classes and close faculty contact. These are the strongest by graduation rate.

Schools on this list 50

Source Federal data, same records as every school page

Admit rate, net price, and SAT in the table are for context. Rank order follows the method above, not those columns.

Rank	School	Admit	Net price	SAT
1	American College of Healthcare Sciences Portland, OR	53%	$23,782	-	See record
2	Amridge University Montgomery, AL	-	-	-	See record
3	Ascent College Gainesville, VA	-	-	-	See record
4	California Career College Canoga Park, CA	-	$46,880	-	See record
5	California Jazz Conservatory Berkeley, CA	67%	-	-	See record
6	California Northstate University Elk Grove, CA	92%	-	-	See record
7	Carolinas College of Health Sciences Charlotte, NC	60%	-	950-1380	See record
8	Catholic International University Charles Town, WV	-	$14,176	-	See record
9	Centra College Lynchburg, VA	100%	-	-	See record
10	Chamberlain University-Michigan Troy, MI	86%	$28,045	-	See record
11	Chamberlain University-Missouri St. Louis, MO	100%	$30,716	-	See record
12	Chamberlain University-Virginia Vienna, VA	90%	$33,199	-	See record
13	Cleveland University-Kansas City Overland Park, KS	69%	$35,764	-	See record
14	Cox College Springfield, MO	100%	-	-	See record
15	Divine Word College Epworth, IA	-	-	-	See record
16	Gnomon North Hollywood, CA	42%	$51,949	-	See record
17	Grace Mission University Fullerton, CA	-	-	-	See record
18	Grace School of Theology Conroe, TX	-	$11,881	-	See record
19	Laboure College of Healthcare Milton, MA	50%	$36,863	-	See record
20	Lincoln University Oakland, CA	-	-	-	See record
21	Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art Van Nuys, CA	-	-	-	See record
22	Messenger College Bedford, TX	38%	$26,433	-	See record
23	Millennia Atlantic University Doral, FL	-	$26,879	-	See record
24	Mount Sinai Phillips School of Nursing New York, NY	-	-	-	See record
25	Pacific States University Los Angeles, CA	-	-	-	See record
26	Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico-Miami Miami, FL	-	-	-	See record
27	Riverside College of Health Careers Newport News, VA	12.9%	$20,744	-	See record
28	Shasta Bible College and Graduate School Redding, CA	100%	$30,437	-	See record
29	St Luke's College Sioux City, IA	80%	$19,820	980	See record
30	St. John Vianney College Seminary Miami, FL	93%	-	-	See record
31	Strayer University-Florida Tampa, FL	-	$16,064	-	See record
32	University of Fort Lauderdale Lauderhill, FL	-	$19,965	-	See record
33	Women's Institute of Torah Seminary and College Baltimore, MD	98%	$11,673	-	See record
34	World Mission University Los Angeles, CA	-	$15,785	-	See record
35	Yeshivath Beth Moshe Scranton, PA	100%	$9,800	-	See record
36	InterCoast Colleges-West Covina West Covina, CA	-	$27,536	-	See record
37	Franklin W Olin College of Engineering Needham, MA	25%	$25,171	1493-1558	See record
38	Curtis Institute of Music Philadelphia, PA	4.6%	-	-	See record
39	Bowdoin College Brunswick, ME	7.1%	$14,398	1470-1550	See record
40	California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA	2.6%	$16,075	-	See record
41	Amherst College Amherst, MA	9.0%	$23,367	1490-1580	See record
42	Washington and Lee University Lexington, VA	14.0%	$23,781	1430-1540	See record
43	Williams College Williamstown, MA	8.3%	$17,716	1490-1570	See record
44	Homestead Schools Torrance, CA	-	$15,962	-	See record
45	Pomona College Claremont, CA	7.1%	$19,285	1490-1560	See record
46	Babson College Wellesley, MA	17.1%	$40,514	1390-1530	See record
47	United States Coast Guard Academy New London, CT	22%	-	1240-1400	See record
48	The Juilliard School New York, NY	9.2%	$43,571	-	See record
49	Angeles College Los Angeles, CA	-	$28,639	-	See record
50	Swarthmore College Swarthmore, PA	7.5%	$23,149	1490-1560	See record