The 2026 USNews poll is out and once again, NESCAC does very well with 7 members making the top 20 and 9 cracking the top 30. Three of the Claremont Colleges (Claremont-McKenna, Pomona and Harvey Mudd) placed very well, too:
Williams College and Amherst College once again ranked at the top of the US News Best Liberal Arts Colleges 2026 ranking, with the US Naval Academy moving up to #3 (from #4 in 2025) and Swarthmore moving down to #4.
The biggest jump came from Mount Holyoke College, who went from #34 in 2025 to #29 this year.
Top 50 Best Liberal Arts Colleges:
1 Williams College
2 Amherst College
3 US Naval Academy
4 Swarthmore
5 Bowdoin College
5 US Air Force Academy
7 Claremont McKenna College
7 Pomona College
7 Wellesley College
10 Carleton College
10 Harvey Mudd College
10 US Military Academy at West Point
13 Barnard College
13 Davidson College
13 Grinnell College
13 Hamilton College
13 Middlebury College
13 Smith College
13 Vassar College
13 Wesleyan University
21 Washington & Lee University
22 Colgate
22 University of Richmond
24 Bates College
24 Colby College
24 Haverford College
27 College of the Holy Cross
28 Macalester College
29 Mount Holyoke College
30 Bryn Maw…
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