As an aside, Williams has a maritime semester program. https://mystic.williams.edu/
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Crazy that they’re not counting FTEs. Whoever put this together knows zip about education.
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Agreed
If I recall correctly the methodology change to 12 month numbers rather than fall numbers caused a phantom explosion in size because of Middleburys language schools. The change adds over 1400 students to their population number which brought the resources per student number way down driving a large part of the recent rankings drop.
Resharing my favorite college ranking system. Be sure to refresh it (the classic) several times.
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I wonder how many small college and/or liberal arts college rankings have come out so far? I know US News will be out in late September. I’ve already seen Niche https://www.niche.com/colleges/search/best-small-colleges/ and Washington Monthly 2025 Liberal Arts Colleges Ranking | Washington Monthly
Agree with those of you who said it sometimes makes no sense how the colleges bounce around, and how some seem to be forgotten altogether. I do like Niche, though, just to read the student commentary and reviews – often quite accurate!
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I couldn’t help but notice the inclusion of a few new metrics in the Washington Monthly poll. Formerly known as the “Mother Theresa poll“ because of its focus on equity and inclusion, it seems to be following the trend to account somehow for “outcomes“ as well as inputs. This is usually interpreted as wages within some time period following graduation, but WM also includes PhD completion. Gotta say, I’m impressed by the #6 rank achieved by New College FL despite all the partisan efforts to intefere with its mission.
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Play with the link in my post. It simply shuffles the schools.
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19 posts were merged into an existing topic: Berea Named Best Liberal Arts College 2025 by Washington Monthly
my favorite college ranking system
Love it! 
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As previously indicated, please stop going back and forth on the methodology!
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Our site administrator asked that this thread not devolve into a discussion of methodology and salaries but to talk about your favorite small college or views on small vs large schools.
Posts will be deleted that don’t comply with the admin’s directions!
If you’d like to discuss methodology flaws, this thread would be more appropriate: Interesting article from Inside HigherEd about College Rankings, Methodology, Scandals
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Directly on your requested theme of small colleges we like, I’m linking this long post I made about Agnes Scott College in another thread. Colleges your child crossed off the list after visiting, schools that moved up on the list. Why? (NO REPLIES) - #7430 by ECCA2026
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I was going to say something similar. Harvey Mudd is always in the liberal arts listings and yet is more akin to Caltech and MIT which are listed in the national rankings along with Harvard, Yale, WPI, Georgia Tech etc. Thus I think putting Rose-Hulman on this list makes sense since students considering Harvey might want to look at Rose which may well be of more interest to such a student than even a sister college like Pomona.
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For anyone who thinks/says they don’t want to go to a small college because they will know everyone, or everyone will be in everyone else’s business, nothing could be farther from the truth. Speaking from experience, I attended a school that had a total enrollment of about 2100 when I was there (it’s now around 2400). We just celebrated a milestone reunion, and so many of us commented on how many classmates we didn’t know or didn’t know well (maybe recognized them/their names but not much else). We all, ALL commented that we felt we only knew only a handful of classmates. And yesterday I attended a small luncheon hosted by our incoming class president. And of the attendees, I did not know 1/3 of them. Like really, did not know them at all. One, I knew her name but did not know her. One had transferred in sophomore year but lived in my dorm and I still didn’t know him. A few others I was happy to get to know yesterday but did not know at all.
Remember, every year 25% graduate and 25% enter as freshmen. So there are always new people to meet. I happened to have many friends in the classes above me (many of my friends were a year or 2 ahead of me). One friend strongly considered coming to our reunion (he was a class ahead of ours) b/c he said he thought our class was “more fun”. 
The flip side to this is that you can get to know someone in a small school if you want to. I recall seeing a play my sophomore year and thinking I wanted to get to know one of the leads. So I did. Can’t recall how I did, but I did. Probably ran into him on campus and complimented him on his acting and how much I enjoyed the show. We became friends. So, there are benefits to a small school for opportunities like this, but also many situations where you may be in very different majors and rarely if ever cross paths.
I loved my experience at a small school, and have enjoyed getting to know classmates I did not know previously. Thinking a small school will cause one to know all their classmates— nothing could be farther from the truth!
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Research has shown that students have the same number of friends in college regardless of the size of the college they attend.
There are only so many hours in a day.
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This gets a “yes, but….”
If you are the only kid at your small sports loving college who loves contemporary art- you may be going to shows and openings alone if they conflict with “The Big Game”. If you are the only sporty kid at your Arts/music/drama loving small college, you may be going to the local sports franchise minor league games by yourself (not that there’s anything wrong with that– if the kid doesn’t mind).
I’m sure we all know kids who were loners or “outcasts” in HS who became social butterflies in college- not because they preferred being alone, but because the effort to find another kid in the HS who wanted to play chess instead of going to a pep rally was just too tiring.
That’s why fit matters. And a kid who can’t find “fit” is more likely to have a concentration of “I love Morris Dancing and playing bridge” kids at a larger college than a smaller one. Unless they are lucky enough to identify their Morris Dancing/Bridge college among the smaller choices.
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Can’t imagine a real life scenario wherein this would occur. Have read enough threads here where a kid goes to a sporty/preppy school for academic reasons but finds their D&D tribe etc., even at the smallest schools. Thinking the previous posters’ point (which I agree with) was that the hard part may be finding them; which itself may not turn out to be that hard.
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How many kids do you know at Emerson, Bard, Sarah Lawrence, College of the Atlantic? Not big sports schools. Emerson you could head to a hockey game, walking distance to Fenway Park. College of the Atlantic? A bit isolated, no?
We preach “fit” on CC except when it comes to kids who don’t want rah-rah (or don’t mind rah-rah but DO want friends who do other things.) How many times does a kid post their wish list and the answer is “Alabama” regardless of what the kid’s social needs are?
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To your point, kids at Emerson have all of the sports they could eat. Lots of the local (and national) sports commentators and reporters are from Emerson. Its a running joke. Don’t know Sarah Lawrence folks and the folks I know from Bard aren’t the types that are jonesing for a pep-rally.
The Alabama example makes sense to me. Presumably there is something there that is attractive academically or otherwise that made you apply in the first place. You don’t have to go the football games.
Real life example. Friend’s kid goes to a small HBCU in the South. She’s the last kid I’d imagine going to one (Northeast prep school and as Yankee as you please), but she’s there because its a great school. The Sorority life is huge. Defining. She’s not in one and is perfectly happy.
People can find their tribe even at very small places. “Fit” is multidimensional. A science nerd can find happiness at Alabama.
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When Emerson’s tailgates make the news (local or otherwise) call me. The fact that media types who end up doing sports commentary went to Emerson doesn’t make Emerson a “sporty school”.
Curious double standard on CC though. Kids that don’t want a “nerdy” vibe get all sorts of suggestions. Kids that are hoping for a peer group with some “less mainstream” interests are told to suck it up, they’ll find their tribe, just because a schools main social outlet involves partying doesn’t mean they have to go– of course not. So then it’s just like their HS experience- the “mainstream culture” swirling around them. Why not respect these kids from the git-go and help them find a place where “their people” will be thick on the ground?
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