Stonehill College

While easily overlooked amid the many academic powerhouses in the Boston area, Stonehill, a small, Catholic liberal arts school 25 miles from the city center, has some notable strengths of its own. Personal responsibility, community, and social justice are taken seriously: The school sponsors a local farm and has a center devoted to the management of nonprofit organizations. It also encourages students to participate in community service programs at home and abroad. Stonehill students complete a core curriculum, which emphasizes communication skills, social justice, and leadership, among other qualities, and also take first-year seminars with intriguing names like Zombie Economics: Views from Dead Economists and Lovin' it? A Sociology of McDonald's and Everyday Life. Most students opt to live on the picturesque campus, the former estate of a wealthy New Englander, throughout their tenure at the school. For fun, Stonehill offers several club sports, including dance, field hockey, lacrosse and rugby, as well as organizations centered around neuroscience, skiing and snowboarding, financial management, and more.