Muhlenberg, at 64%. We visited in November 2023. Our tour guide was very natural and friendly, and this was one of the better tours we’ve done. The campus is tidy and attractive. I picked up an alumni magazine, and I was impressed by the variety of profiles they featured, on professors and students and alums, achieving in diverse areas. They’ve recently introduced a unique coaching program where each student has a college life coach and a career coach, in addition to their academic advisors. They have a reputation as a friendly, caring place, and I saw evidence of that in my morning on campus. It was an early visit for us, and my daughter has since decided she wants a larger school and that’s fine, but for someone looking for a small college community of caring, Muhlenberg is a great option.
University of Alabama at Huntsville has an acceptance rate in the upper 70s, individual dorm rooms in a suite setting for freshman, and academic scholarships comparable to bigger schools like Auburn without the huge school setting.
I never would have looked at the school without the recommendation of our private college counselor, but I’m so glad that she suggested it for S25. He’s set on engineering, and with Huntsville’s integral part of NASA, it was a brilliant suggestion for a kid who wanted to stay in warmer weather.
The tour was fun, even for a rainy day, with the guides pointing out that they have not only a pine cone club, but also an anti-pine cone club. There’s a sense of humor going on there that I appreciate.
Loyola New Orleans has so much about it to like. It’s on the small side of medium with about 3200 undergrads, so not too big for those who prefer liberal arts colleges but not too small for people interested in a medium-sized school.
The student body is diverse, with 53% from out of state, 39% receiving Pell grants, and racially it’s 3% Asian, 20% Black, 21% Hispanic, 45% White, 5% 2+ races, 2% unknown, and 4% US Nonresident (source). Such a mix is hard to find outside of a few spots in the U.S., and not only is there diversity present, but all these groups interact a great deal, with Loyola New Orleans rating #2 in the country on Princeton Review’s list of Lots of Race/Class Interaction: Do different types of students interact frequently and easily?
It has a definite campus located in a neighborhood of historical houses and across the street from one of the city’s nicest parks. At its front door is also the streetcar that goes downtown and to the edge of the French Quarter. It’s in walking distance to a number of restaurants and coffee shops. Next door (literally) is Tulane, where Loyola students can use their meal plan money (source), borrow books (source), and take up to two classes per semester. The taking-classes-at-other campuses extends to other New Orleans consortium members like Xavier, Dillard, and Notre Dame Seminary (source). And for people who want to study further away in a different country, more than a quarter of students study abroad.
It’s a Jesuit school which means that it offers solid academics. It’s a religiously affiliated institution, but one that focuses on social justice. It’s also a welcoming place for LGBTQ students, as it says, “Loyola University New Orleans is committed to creating an inclusive and welcoming space where our LGBTQ+ community can thrive,” and its actions reflect its statement.
Academically, it’s particularly well-known for its music programs, but it provides an overall strong education. And it does all of this with an 88% acceptance rate. College Navigator - Loyola University New Orleans
Not listed so far: Kanas State University is really a gem. Happy, happy students -very welcoming. My somewhat introverted child has really had a great time his first semester. They are very strong in Animal Science --and have a veterinary school. Manhattan is a lovely little college town. 80% admission rate
I know it’s been listed but I was REALLY impressed with Miami U in Oxford Ohio – big emphasis on undergrad teaching -excellent undergrad medical (communication disorders, nursing etc.) Didn’t meet one student who wasn’t really happy with their experience. The college town is tiny but cute. 82% admission rate.
Some excellent OOS scholarships do exist – contact financial aid to discuss. ETA: They use WEIGHTED GPA to determine merit -which is really awesome if you have a kid in very demanding classes.
University of Scranton is a small Jesuit school that packs a big punch. Pretty campus, smaller class sizes and lots of opportunities for business internships. Their new communications disorders major has opportunity for direct admission into its grad program which is very convenient. Strong PT and OT programs as well. Tons of merit offered and sibling discounts make this private school a really great option.
Thinking about colleges that might really serve an important purpose for some applicants, I wanted to add Grand Valley State (95%) to my list of suggestions. I have heard many good reviews, and it made US News’s peer survey list for Best Undergraduate Teaching. It is located in what is basically an exurb of Grand Rapids, Michigan, which in turn is a decent-sized city.
But the main reason I am adding it is that they make it relatively easy, and transparent, to get the same tuition as Michigan residents if you are OOS–including if you are an International.
Combined with the low living costs–housing and food this year was $11,550 on campus, $9,090 off campus–this makes it one of the potentially least expensive four-year universities I have seen for Internationals that is not a ludicrously hard admit (either in general or for Internationals with need). They will also add additional merit on top of that–more for higher number OOS kids, but still some for Internationals too.
Here are some details:
Of course that still won’t be enough if you are a very high need International, or for the many high need domestic students who can do much better still in-state. But I think there is a market for colleges for Internationals, and at least some domestic students looking to go OOS, where they can contribute some substantial amount but nonetheless are looking to make it as little as possible.
Great thread, University Of Dayton , Miami University , and Ohio University ( all in Ohio). Do offer some great degrees. Also your small private schools often give 1/2 tuition scholarships to 3.8 GPA and above, swing the net wide and you’ll be surprised. Thanks for info on a few , I will add to my younger child’s college search
Definitely true with great merit for 3.8 and above at Scranton. My student received close to $40k a year in merit from them.
Chiming in from the West Coast - St. Mary’s College of California!
One of the Colleges That Change Lives, St. Mary’s makes plenty of lists and checks lots of boxes, D1 sports, robust undergrad and graduate programs, beautiful Bay Area campus, 4 years of housing available, generous merit and more!
I will second Kansas State. The professors really get involved and want the students to succeed. The town is nice, honors program and study abroad opportunities excellent. Courses in engineering and pre-health (med, vet, PA) all are challenging and great for those looking at those programs. COL in Manhattan is great! (My son and his wife just bought a house there because they like it so much!)
It’s interesting to see which schools in this thread have blue hyperlinks, and which ones don’t.
I’ll add James Madison University to the list(James Madison University - JMU). They’re admit rate hovers in the 70s every year.
The campus is pretty, and always well maintained. Niche rated it #10 in the Best College Campuses in America category. They’re building new dorms and replacing old ones. They’re constantly upgrading facilities like UREC, the College of Business Learning Complex, the Atlantic Union Bank Center and the Convocation Center.
JMU always ranks within the Top 10 nationally for food(Niche 2025 = #9; Princeton Review = #8).
USNWR ranks JMU #26 for Best Undergraduate teaching. Professors teach 98% of the classes at JMU. The average class size is 25 students. The student to faculty ration is 17:1. There are 73 undergrad programs to choose from, which is helpful for those that are undecided about their career path as an 18-year-old.
TIME listed JMU among the Top 100 Best Colleges for Leaders in 2024. Students and alumni present as competent, down to earth and relatable, which is a great combination.
There is Greek life if that’s your thing, but it doesn’t dominate the social scene. The university offers over 400 clubs that students can get involved with. There are also ample opportunities to serve the local JMU community if that’s something a student is interested in.
Wheaton College (the one in Massachusetts), accepts about 80%. Small liberal arts college with a pretty campus (little pond in the middle, their own wooded area with trails). Open curriculum, small classes–all the students we spoke to reported close relationships with professors. Strong study abroad programs, including the first study abroad program in Bhutan. Offers pre-health programs (nursing!) as well as traditional liberal arts majors. They give a 50% tuition break to all admitted students from New England, bringing COA to $50k before any other merit scholarships or financial aid (my kid got an additional $14k in merit, making it the same cost as state flagship). The kids we met were very friendly & quirky & clearly loved their school.
I recently worked for a company in Grand Rapids, MI and many of my co-workers were Grand Valley alum and had great things to say. We also hired a few interns from GVSU, also very happy as students there.
Ithaca College in upstate NY has about a 69 - 70% acceptance rate, I believe. Really beautiful campus and a nice college town just a short cab ride away (lots of Cornell students hang out in that town as well). I loved it there, but my son wanted a big football school and ended up at Rutgers instead.
Central Michigan University. 90%
Pros: Nice midsize campus with mix of older and newer buildings. Small town but total college town vibe. Can walk to most fast food and chain stores. Huge school spirit with football (families tailgate in the fields surrounding the football field). Lots of majors that were of interest to my child and she thought the professors were nice and helpful during the campus visit event. Dorm food was quite decent with several options and daughter loved that there were no communal bathrooms. Alternate Breaks for volunteering opportunities sounded cool for my kid (said it would be a nice way to meet like minded people). Tuition/Dorm/Food is 27k to start for all students (instate and oos) and auto admit given for grades.
Cons: 4 seasons including snow and cold (so if thats not your thing). Not easy to fly/train into (Detroit is 2.5 hrs away, 1.5 hrs from Grand Rapids).
We looked at Western Michigan (80%) for engineering and were so impressed with their engineering building and the labs and everything it offered. It was the best engineering tour we had.
They have a full range of engineering, including chemical, aerospace and even paper engineering. They have a working paper plant in their engineering building, which was incredibly interesting to see.
There are plenty of other majors as well including aviation, business and musical theater.
It’s in Kalamazoo and just a couple miles from downtown. Amtrak goes through and Chicago is only a couple hours away.
The cons include the campus feeling very spread out, especially to the freshmen dorms and dining hall. Engineering, while great, is its own campus with not much else there. It’s a 10 minute drive away. Buses go there from the main campus. But there is not a dorm or dining hall up there, which we saw as a negative. And winter is real if you don’t like that.
Another Michigan school is Kettering University, which has an admit rate of about 80%. It is considered the West Point of the automotive industry, and current GM CEO Mary Barra is an alum.
It’s definitely a specialist technical school with a very lopsided gender ratio (75% male), but for those who want to be in the auto industry, there’s nothing better.
University of Utah 87% acceptance rate. Great school 10 mins from downtown Salt Lake City (easy to fly to and you can get to campus on the light rail). Ideal for outdoorsy kids as it’s 30 mins to skiing and has national parks in every direction. A lot of investment has gone into the campus. It has WUE plus some higher level merit for very strong applicants, you can also get residency after the first year. Also D1 sports, particularly football.
I’ll add Goucher college. Admission rate around 80%, just north of DC and has good poli sci (govt) opportunities, has a strong study abroad program and a creative January semester term.
And for womens’ colleges, Agnes Scott, at 67%, is great.