An Outsider's Guide to National LACs

College Search & Lists
1

Seems like USNews is tinkering with its ranking system again and some are anticipating major changes in categories and pole position:
U.S. News Anticipates Higher Year-Over-Year Changes in Upcoming Rankings - College Search & Lists - College Confidential Forums

And since the whole idea of a National Liberal Arts College might (still) be something of an oxymoron for most people, I thought I would be of service and give a veteran CCer’s slightly biased, thumbnail view of the main contenders. In alphabetical order, of course:

Amherst - Probably the wealthiest LAC in the country, if you take a few billion dollars in endowment and divide it between just under 2,000 students and it shows; it has been on one of the longest-running building booms of any institution in the country.

*Barnard - Try this as a Thought Experiment: “Barnard is an Ivy League college”, and you see what makes this original Seven Sister something of a puzzle thematically. Putting that aside, it’s a well-resourced LAC in the most important city in the United States.

Bates - A happy place of modern red-brick buildings, it was the first college in New England to admit women and an early center of the abolitionist (anti-slavery) movement.

Bowdoin - About as New England as you can get with both Longfellow and Hawthorne among its alum, it has long been known for its Arctic Studies Center (named after Admiral Peary - another alum) and for its semi-annual lobster fests.

Bryn Mawr - Katharine Hepburn’s alma mater.

*Carleton - As someone posted downstream, how could anyone forget Rhoda’s doorman? All kidding aside, this is a midwestern academic powerhouse.

Claremont McKenna College - Born a men’s college modeled after its New England brethren, CMC became fully co-ed at just about the same time. It still retains a kind of “finance bro” atmosphere within the greater Claremont College Consortium due to its emphasis on Econ, Government and Business.

Colby - The third of the traditional “Maine Colleges”, it outgrew its original campus during WWII and constructed an almost exact model of that grandaddy of all small colleges - Dartmouth. Ring-ring - Amherst calling. They want their old campus back.

College of the Holy Cross - (See, An Outsider's Guide to National LACs - #6 by HCPP20)

*Davidson - Steph Curry’s alma mater; shares honors with Colgate as a traditional LAC with a D1 varsity sports team.

Grinnell - Probably the wealthiest per capita college in the Midwest.

Hamilton - An attractive campus that’s a tad off the beaten trail in Western New York State. Calls itself, “The Writer’s College”. Not to be confused with Colgate.

Harvey Mudd - Really more of a tech college, but I put it here because it’s part of the Claremont College Consortium.

Haverford - Nestled in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the country, Haverford is one of three Quaker founded LACs in the same general vicinity (See, Bryn Mawr and Swarthmore.) Ten to fifteen minute walk from the Main Line commuter train station into Philadelphia.

*Kenyon - Long home to of one of the country’s oldest literary reviews, it almost single-handedly gave letters a midwestern redoubt.

Macalester - Widely considered one of the few “urban” LACs due to its location in suburban Minneapolis-St. Paul. Just about anything you want is either a short walk or a short bus ride away.

Middlebury - The complete opposite of Macalester. Assuming you like snow and skiing, there’s plenty of room to spread out up here. This Vermont gem is one of the most spacious small colleges in the country. Known for language instruction.

*Mount Holyoke - As someone rightly pointed out below, it’s the oldest surviving women’s college in the country. Less over the top than Vassar and a little further tucked away than Smith and Wellesley, visitors are impressed by its domestic scale and house system.

*Oberlin - Boomers may remember when Oberlin and Swarthmore were the two most highly esteemed co-ed LACs in the country, a status that automatically set them apart from the NESCACs. Today, a handsome campus, home to no less than four buildings designed by early 20th century architect, Cass Gilbert, and its unique relationship to an undergraduate music conservatory remain solid reasons to explore this midwestern standout.

Pomona - The granddaddy of the Claremont Colleges. Hope you like stucco buildings.

*St. Olaf - Typically paired with a side trip to Carleton since they share the same location, though by all reports they are very different from each other. St. Olaf’s gets high marks for their choral groups. For some reason, I can’t quite get lederhosen out of my head.

Smith - The largest surviving all-women’s college in the country. Old-money trappings belie a long tradition of progressivism.

Swarthmore - Another very wealthy place with one of the smallest enrollments among its peers. And one of the few with a ABET accredited engineering degree.

Vassar - Let’s face it, this formerly all-women’s college was designed to be the female equivalent of an Ivy League college and it shows. A lot of Gilded Age architecture for a decidedly artsy and co-ed, present-day populace.

*Washington and Lee - Its inclusion of business and accounting degrees among more traditional liberal arts and sciences gave W&L a big boost after the financial crisis of 2008; many northern families now see it as the east coast equivalent of CMC. Hope you like colonnades.

Wellesley - Smith with a somewhat longer list of powerful alumnae.

Wesleyan University - Contrary to popular belief, its name always contained the word, “university” and a couple billion in constant dollars was probably spent between the end of WWII and 1973 in order to live up to it - to some limited extent. Today, this former avatar of old money Protestantism attracts about $10 million dollars annually in outside STEM research and - improbably - is home to one of the country’s best known film schools.

Williams - One of the original “Little Three” along with Amherst and Wesleyan, this old-money redoubt still exemplifies a statement attributed to Dickens, that its Berkshire Mountain location is “worth an entire faculty”. Or something like that. Gotta love a college brave enough to have a purple cow for its mascot.

I know. I know. I could probably double this list. Feel free to add.

*ETA.

9 Likes
U.S. News Anticipates Higher Year-Over-Year Changes in Upcoming Rankings
2

Seriously, how could you leave off Washington & Lee University?

And when I think a little more, how could you miss Carlton and Kenyon? And Davidson?

5 Likes
3

Also, more “traditionally LAC” in terms of majors compared the the more skewed CMC (business-flavored economics) and HMC (engineering and science).

1 Like
4

Nice list but …surely you could have added something else about this one than that a famous actress went there?!

3 Likes
5

I’ll bite.

Of the traditional “7 Sisters” of yore, it had the reputation of being the most intellectual, “bluestocking” of its peer group. Serious place for serious women.

6 Likes
6

College of the Holy Cross, Worcester MA was founded in 1843 in response partly due to anti immigrant and Catholic sentiment, by Georgetown University President to address lack of elite education opportunities in New England. Today it has one of the largest endowments of any LAC and increased selectivity to draw students from all over the country and internationally. Known for its holistic education and rigorous academics, the college prides itself on social justice endeavors and the ideals of “men and women for and with others”. A long time top producer of Fulbright scholars, Holy Cross is considered a “Hidden Ivy”, has an impressive list of alumni, including Nobel Prize laureates, US Senators, Olympians, Emmy, Grammy, Pulitzer Prize winners, and of course NIH hero, Dr Anthony Fauci. This Jesuit college, open and welcoming to all, faiths (or none) and personal truths, has continued to challenge and push students to higher intellectual pursuits while keeping humble and grounded in service. A college quite unique in this regard.

5 Likes
7

Good list. I don’t know what the definition of national liberal arts colleges is, but two schools that come to mind for me that draw nationally and were not listed are Spellman College and Morehouse College.

Oberlin also feels national to me, people seem to know it and send their kids there from here in CA anyway as well as from east coast and Midwest.

4 Likes
8

Don’t they also have a Supreme Court justice alum too?

9

Not sure what service this provides to students and parents other than reinforce shallow college selection process based on name recognition and prestige.

Real service would be to highlight LACs that provide solid education that are accessible to a broad swath of students.

6 Likes
10

Yes. Used to have Marxist posters on his wall and involved in civil rights. Strange how things worked out.

2 Likes
11

Yup. Justice Thomas.

12

Not to hijack the OP’s thread. More to add that a student who wishes to go further away from home to attend an LAC could also consider these options that are not low-admit rate schools. A greater variety of students would find the schools on this list much more accessible than most of the LACs mentioned so far.

As part of my son’s application process a few years ago, we researched many colleges, including an assortment of not-National LACs. He applied to many of them, was admitted to several, and the financial aid packages were surprisingly helpful

Allegheny College ¶: 41% Pell Grant

Christopher Newport (VA): smaller public uni with unique setting,

Clark Atlanta (GA): part of shared setting with Spelman & Morehouse

Wooster (OH): unique & rewarding senior project requisite

Colorado College

Drew University (NJ)

Denison (OH)

Florida Southern: surrounded by lakes and nature

Franklin & Marshall ¶: Pell Grant 12%

Furman (SC)

Juniata ¶

Knox College (IL)

Loyola Maryland: mix of liberal arts majors and “new” majors such as Supply Chain Management, Construction Mgmt, Forensic Accounting

Manhattan College (NYC)

Rollins College (FL)

St John’s College (NM & MD): Unique books-based reading&discussion curriculum

Stetson University (FL)

Susquehanna ¶

Ursinus ¶

8 Likes
13

I agree. I think it’s nice to highlight LAC’s in general on CC since it overwhelmingly focuses on Universities and one subgroup- NESCAC.

6 Likes
14

So I was just discussing this 1960 Life Magazine college review which included many LACs:

Some things have definitely changed since 1960–see what implicitly happened with Reed, for example.

But I feel like for Carleton, you could actually lift some of its narrative description virtually unchanged, like, “Top private liberal arts college in the Midwest,” and, “A real academic challenge without social pressures or status seekers.”

I’d also personally add some from the Grinnell description. It is definitely very wealthy as an institution, but it also has long been known as a top academic choice, but with more of an anti-elitist vibe. So in 1960, “A good academic challenge in a plain middle-western setting,” and, “Ample opportunity for students and teachers to know each other,” but also, “Sometimes incompatible with the sophisticated Easterner.”

By the way, both Carleton and Grinnell tend to do very well in PhD placement studies and such.

Finally, I would agree Oberlin still belongs on a list of top LACs despite it often being used recently in certain sorts of polemics. From 1960, “One of the top schools in Midwest academically,” and, “Excellent political science, history, and music departments,” but, “When the student body leaves the stadium after a footbal game, it is hard to tell which college won.”

3 Likes
15

By the way, I also agree that in thinking about an “Outsider’s Guide” to LACs, this is certainly only one facet of what we could, and indeed should, discuss. For example, there is a whole other story we could tell about LACs and financial aid, both need and merit, and how under the right circumstances LACs could provide welcome alternatives to families on a budget who don’t just want to settle for a list made up of the most selective few “National Universities” and then their in-state options. And quite a long list of LACs at least sometimes might provide such aid.

LACs are also by nature suitable for really looking for specific fits, including in terms of virtually anything a kid might have a preference over, like say very specific sorts of settings, student vibes, and so on. And again, that can end up covering a lot of institutions. For example, because of where I live, I could try to put together a comparative list of just LACs in Pennsylvania, and it would include quite a variety of options.

I think the basic problem, though, is that sort of value proposition is very hard to reduce to something that could be put into a passive list. It is really about individual customization, and this community can actually be great at helping when an individual engages in an interactive Match Me process. With the standard starting information in our Match Me form, this community can start generating suggestions, but also ask follow up, clarification, and expansion questions. The more a kid or parent is willing to engage reflectively in that interactive process, the more carefully tailored suggestions they will get, and also some insights as to tradeoffs worth reflecting on (like ideally one might want A, B, and C, but LACs with all three is a short list, but if you compromise a bit on B, then you can get a lot more of A and C . . . that sort of thing).

I guess my point is that unless and until we all just get replaced by a well-trained AI, anything like this is always going to be the start of a conversation, not the end of one. And I actually think that is cool and appropriate.

Sidenote: speaking of AI, recently when I have tried out AI on college choice sorts of questions, I find it ending up sourcing analysis to social media, not least College Confidential conversations! And then not necessarily doing a great job reflecting the actual content of those conversations. Obviously people are trying to make this work better, but it is still kinda scary to me how AI is now basically always “lurking” in these threads, and potentially more than happy to take things out of context or otherwise distort them. I have no solution, I guess I just think we should be aware.

1 Like
16

Due to popular demand, Oberlin has been added.

2 Likes
17

agree 100%.

The kid who wants an LGBTQ+ friendly campus; the kid whose parents are demanding a “practical” minor to go along with a Classics major; the kid who needs to be near an academic medical center (for follow-up on an uncommon chronic condition); the kid who wants robust music performance options but is not conservatory-level; all of these require some level of digging and nuance which the lists “Best campuses for Gay Students” often miss. A great campus for Gay students might be a tiny blue dot in a sea of red with an extremely hostile state legislature which a Trans student may find unacceptable or even dangerous if appropriate medical care is hard to access.

I have never really understood the mania for lists. Of- as I’ve posted repeatedly- using and misusing “statistics” to calculate your student’s ROI based on misleading salary numbers.

But I take comfort in knowing that we live in the country of second chances- and third and fourth, many times. And once you are a grownup out in the world, you get to meet LOTS of people who didn’t “optimize” their undergrad experience but it turned out great anyway!!!

2 Likes
18

Loved the intro of “facing the problem of picking three or more colleges”!

Also Reed and NYU are probably the two that have changed most since then?

I did chuckle at the comments that Harvard and Yale were overdisposed to those with higher IQs…

19

No Mount Holyoke College? The first all womens college in the country, the original 7 Sister. Often listed as the most beautiful college campus. (Smith, BM, Wellesley, and Vassar are all listed).

1 Like
20

Love these highlights from the article

Duke: “Similar to Yale, but very much in need of the vines and ivy”

SMU: “Admits out-of-staters with SAT scores in the 400s but good recommendations” , leaving unsaid, “and full pay ability” :laughing:

Muhlenberg: “A good co-ed college for an average student. Not as difficult to gain admission as other small schools”

University of the South: “Northerners are sometimes uncomfortable”

1 Like