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Best Liberal Arts Colleges

US News 2026 LAC rankings. Small, undergrad-only colleges with high PhD-feeder rates.

Top entries are curated; the rest are auto-extended by selectivity.

#SchoolLocation Accept SAT mid-50% ACT mid-50% Undergrads Avg Class Size Type
#1 Williams Williamstown, Massachusetts 8.5% 1450-1560 33-35 2,100 ~13 est. private View
#2 Amherst Amherst, Massachusetts 9.0% 1450-1560 33-35 1,900 ~13 est. private View
#3 Swarthmore Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 7.2% 1430-1550 33-35 1,700 ~15 est. private View
#4 Pomona Claremont, California 7.5% 1460-1560 33-35 1,700 ~15 est. private View
#5 Wellesley Wellesley, Massachusetts 13.0% 1410-1540 32-34 2,400 ~15 est. private View
#6 Bowdoin Brunswick, Maine 7.5% 1440-1530 32-34 1,900 ~20 est. private View
#7 Carleton Northfield, Minnesota 17.0% 1410-1540 32-34 2,000 ~18 est. private View
#8 Claremont McKenna Claremont, California 9.0% 1430-1530 32-34 1,400 ~18 est. private View
#9 Davidson Davidson, North Carolina 15.0% 1380-1500 31-34 1,900 ~18 est. private View
#10 Middlebury Middlebury, Vermont 13.0% 1400-1520 32-34 2,700 ~18 est. private View
#11 Smith Northampton, Massachusetts 23.0% 1380-1500 31-33 2,500 ~18 est. private View
#12 Vassar Poughkeepsie, New York 17.0% 1410-1530 32-34 2,400 ~15 est. private View
#13 Hamilton Clinton, New York 11.5% 1410-1530 32-34 2,000 ~20 est. private View
#14 Colgate Hamilton, New York 11.0% 1390-1500 31-33 3,200 ~20 est. private View
#15 Colby Waterville, Maine 8.0% 1410-1530 32-34 2,200 ~20 est. private View
#16 Bates Lewiston, Maine 14.0% 1370-1490 31-33 1,900 ~20 est. private View
#17 Grinnell Grinnell, Iowa 9.0% 1430-1540 32-34 1,700 ~20 est. private View
#18 Mount Holyoke South Hadley, Massachusetts 38.0% 1300-1450 29-33 2,200 ~20 est. private View
#19 Bryn Mawr Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania 30.0% 1340-1480 30-34 1,400 ~18 est. private View
#20 Wesleyan Middletown, Connecticut 14.0% 1410-1530 32-34 3,100 ~18 est. private View
#21 Haverford Haverford, Pennsylvania 14.0% 1410-1530 32-34 1,400 ~18 est. private View
#22 Oberlin Oberlin, Ohio 30.0% 1340-1490 30-33 2,900 ~20 est. private View
#23 Kenyon Gambier, Ohio 27.0% 1350-1480 30-33 1,700 ~20 est. private View
#24 Macalester Saint Paul, Minnesota 26.0% 1370-1490 31-33 2,200 ~22 est. private View
#25 Harvey Mudd Claremont, California 8.0% 1490-1570 33-35 900 ~18 est. private View
#26 Barnard New York, New York 8.0% 1430-1540 31-34 2,700 ~22 est. private View
#27 Scripps Claremont, California 25.0% 1370-1510 31-34 1,100 ~22 est. private View
#28 Pitzer Claremont, California 15.0% 1340-1480 31-33 1,200 ~22 est. private View
#29 Trinity College Hartford, Connecticut 38.0% 1300-1430 29-32 2,200 ~20 est. private View
#30 Reed Portland, Oregon 27.0% 1390-1530 31-34 1,500 ~20 est. private View
#31 Skidmore Saratoga Springs, New York 26.0% 1280-1430 28-32 2,700 ~18 est. private View
#32 Whitman Walla Walla, Washington 45.0% 1290-1450 29-33 1,500 ~22 est. private View
#33 Connecticut College New London, Connecticut 31.0% 1280-1410 28-32 1,800 ~20 est. private View
#34 Occidental Los Angeles, California 26.0% 1340-1480 29-33 2,000 ~20 est. private View
#35 Caltech Pasadena, California 2.7% 1530-1580 35-36 1,000 ~8 est. private View
#36 Juilliard New York, New York 8.0% 1100-1400 21-31 600 ~9 est. private View
#37 Cooper Union New York, New York 11.0% 1340-1500 30-34 900 ~18 est. private View
#38 Olin College Needham, Massachusetts 18.0% 1480-1560 33-35 400 ~20 est. private View
#39 Babson Wellesley, Massachusetts 18.0% 1280-1430 29-32 2,500 ~33 est. private View
#40 Rhode Island School of Design Providence, Rhode Island 18.0% 1290-1470 28-33 2,000 ~18 est. private View
#41 Bucknell Lewisburg, Pennsylvania 33.0% 1300-1450 29-33 3,700 ~20 est. private View
#42 Brandeis Waltham, Massachusetts 39.0% 1380-1510 30-34 3,700 ~22 est. private View
#43 Spelman Atlanta, Georgia 43.0% 1130-1280 22-27 2,200 ~24 est. private View
#44 Tuskegee Tuskegee, Alabama 52.0% 960-1130 18-22 3,000 ~31 est. private View
#45 Morehouse Atlanta, Georgia 58.0% 1010-1230 19-24 2,200 ~31 est. private View
#46 Pratt Institute Brooklyn, New York 76.0% 1180-1380 25-31 3,500 ~20 est. private View
#47 School of the Art Institute of Chicago Chicago, Illinois 76.0% 1100-1310 21-28 3,500 ~22 est. private View
#48 Rose-Hulman Terre Haute, Indiana 77.0% 1260-1430 28-32 2,200 ~26 est. private View