If you’re in a big metro area like Los Angeles (pop. 3,849,000), even a place with 200,000 people might feel small to you. How small of a town are you looking for? These are the populations of the schools you’re looking at, though don’t forget that some of these have metro areas which would increase the population. (These are just the quick Google results for population.)
- Salt Lake City: about 200k
- Tallahassee: about 197k
- Knoxville: about 193k
- Tempe: about 184k
- Eugene_ about 175k
- Athens: about 127k
- Wilmington: about 118k
- Auburn: about 79k
- San Luis Obispo: about 48k
- Blacksburg: about 45k
- Clemson: about 18k
- Durham, NH: about 17k
- Williamsburg: about 16k
- Malibu: about 10k
If you’re a big fan of fly-fishing and prefer smaller towns to big cities, I have a couple of school suggestions for you (based on my quick internet search about the best places for fly fishing in the U.S.) that also offer a major in Classics. I think that you’d have a reasonable shot of sufficient merit aid at these privates to get the price within budget, too:
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U. of Montana (mentioned upthread): About 7200 undegrads, and Missoula has a population of about 75k.
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Baylor (TX): About 15k undergrads, and Waco has a population of about 140k.
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Gonzaga (WA): No football here, but basketball is big. If Hillsdale’s core curriculum appealed to you, you might like the Jesuit approach which often has distribution requirements for a breadth of study. Spokane has about 230k people, so not as small as the others.
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Syracuse (NY): About 15k undergrads, and the city of Syracuse has a population of about 146k.
Also, I’d take a real good look at U. of Tennessee especially but also U. of Arkansas.
If you’re willing to forego a classics major, then Montana State in Bozeman or Appalachian State in Boone, NC might also be of interest.