My D is at a LAC currently. My S looked at one LAC and felt it was too small. The idea is for each person to figure out what type of environment would be right for him/her. Here are some attributes of a LAC:
-Small classes all taught by professors. Her largest class was 60 (intro to psych) and she has had a number of classes with between 6-12 students. My S went to a mid-sized university and his typical class size was around 30-40 which was very manageable for him. Large universities often have huge lecture classes particularly for introductory coursework.
-There are no grad students at a LAC. So classes are all taught by full professors.
-Having no grad students also means that when professors do research, they have undergrad students work with them. My D has sought out research opportunities and by the time she graduates will have worked on 4 research projects with 3 professors (including two summers spent on campus being paid to do research). She expects to be named as a co-author on two studies she worked on when they are (hopefully) published.
-My D’s LAC does offer engineering as well as a wide variety of liberal arts majors. If you want a specialty such as engineering or businesses it is important to determine if the LAC you are considering offers those programs
-Because of their size, LACs typically don’t have the huge sports programs that a large school can offer, but some rivalries do exist (for example my D’s LAC has a huge rivalry which is a big deal every year).