The 15 Best Value Liberal Arts Colleges in the U.S.
If you’re searching for a college where you can study any of the classical academic fields—including the humanities or subjects such as pure math or the sciences—check out these leading liberal arts schools.
Small liberal arts colleges like these may lack some of the resources of large universities. But they may also provide a more intimate college experience: smaller class sizes with professors who devote themselves to teaching undergraduates rather than focusing primarily on research.
In considering liberal arts colleges, don't be discouraged by their often-high sticker prices. Few families actually pay that much. Most private colleges now award scholarship aid to the majority of their students. Some give scholarships to fully 100% of freshmen. Bear in mind, though, that you may have to maintain a certain grade-point average for the aid to continue in later years.
All 15 of the schools listed here received high marks for affordability, educational quality, and career success in Money magazine's recently released Best Colleges rankings for 2016. To view Money's full "Top 50" list of best liberal arts colleges, click here.
Sources: U.S. Department of Education, Peterson's, PayScale.com, Money/College Measures calculations.
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15. Bates College, ME
- Estimated price 2016-17 without aid: $65,300
- Estimated price 2016-17 with average aid: $24,800
- Early career earnings: $46,700
- Average SAT/AVT score: NA/NA
Bates College is a small New England liberal arts school with a tight-knit student body. Its 2,000 undergrads, almost all of them living, eating, and hanging out together on campus, are famously friendly to each other and to outsiders. Academics at Bates are challenging without being overwhelming. In a typical day, students might go from classes to sports or a cappella practice, and then gather in the Commons to refuel on brick-oven pizza before studying.
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14. Colgate University, NY
- Estimated price 2016-17 without aid: $64,900
- Estimated price 2016-17 with average aid: $24,600
- Early career earnings: $55,800
- Average SAT/AVT score: 1365/31
Colgate combines a small-campus liberal arts education with the kind of serious athletic teams and active Greek life often found at much larger schools. Student athletes can play on one of 25 Division I teams at Colgate. Students can’t rush one of the school’s three sororities or five fraternities until sophomore year, but after that, about a third of the student body is active in Greek life. Graduates of this small upstate New York school enter the “real world” on sturdy financial footing, with low student debt—an average of about $15,600—and high earnings compared to alumni of similar schools.
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13. Williams College, MA
- Estimated price 2016-17 without aid: $66,600
- Estimated price 2016-17 with average aid: $23,700
- Early career earnings: $53,100
- Average SAT/AVT score: 1445/32
With a combination of high-quality academics and impressive career outcomes, Williams College is one of the highest-rated liberal arts colleges in Money’s rankings. Among its standout traits: plenty of personalized attention (the student-faculty ratio is a low 7 to 1) and an unusual tutorial system, modeled after Oxford University’s, that pairs two students who critique each other’s papers and meet weekly with a professor. The system apparently works: 95% of students graduate, and recent grads report earning over $53,100 a year, substantially more than alumni of similarly elite liberal arts schools.
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12. Middlebury College, VT
- Estimated price 2016-17 without aid: $63,600
- Estimated price 2016-17 with average aid: $24,400
- Early career earnings: $49,300
- Average SAT/AVT score: 1375/32
The quality of teaching is high at this elite liberal arts college, at least in the eyes of those being taught. On average, Middlebury’s professors receive some of the highest student ratings in the country on Ratemyprofessor.com. The college is especially well-known for its language and writing programs, and every summer it hosts the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, which has featured writers such as Toni Morrison, George R. R. Martin, and Anne Sexton.
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11. College of Saint Benedict
- Estimated price 2016-17 without aid: $53,900
- Estimated price 2016-17 with average aid: $30,100
- Early career earnings: $41,800
- Average SAT/AVT score: 1059/26
The College of Saint Benedict is the only Benedictine college for women in the U.S. It partners with a nearby men’s school, Saint John’s University, to share academic programs and provide access to resources on both campuses. (Its students are known as “Bennies,” while Saint John’s students are called “Johnnies.”) About 81% of women at Saint Benedict graduate within six years, 19% higher than similar schools.
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10. Davidson College, NC
- Estimated price 2016-17 without aid: $63,400
- Estimated price 2016-17 with average aid: $25,600
- Early career earnings: $50,000
- Average SAT/AVT score: 1335/31
Despite its classification as a liberal arts college, Davidson prides itself on being a leader in undergraduate research. Small class sizes mean students can conduct research alongside professors, and a grant-funded initiative gives them the opportunity to design a research project, work with a faculty mentor, and publish their findings.
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9. Bowdoin College, ME
- Estimated price 2016-17 without aid: $64,100
- Estimated price 2016-17 with average aid: $25,800
- Early career earnings: $48,900
- Average SAT/AVT score: 1435/32
Bowdoin is an elite liberal arts college that counts among its alumni influencers like Netflix founder Reed Hastings and Harlem Children’s Zone founder Geoffrey Canada. Although it is highly selective, rejecting 85% of applicants, Bowdoin is test optional, meaning applicants are not required to submit SAT or ACT scores.
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8. Virginia Military Institute
- Estimated price 2016-17 without aid: $28,100
- Estimated price 2016-17 with average aid: $13,800
- Early career earnings: $56,400
- Average SAT/AVT score: 1150/25
The Virginia Military Institute, often referred to as the West Point of the South, is the oldest state-supported military college in the country. Undergraduates undergo strict military-style training and regimentation, wear uniforms to class, and march in formation. Unlike traditional military schools, however, VMI charges tuition and does not require students to serve after graduation.
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7. Hamilton College, NY
- Estimated price 2016-17 without aid: $64,300
- Estimated price 2016-17 with average aid: $25,800
- Early career earnings: $54,800
- Average SAT/AVT score: 1385/31
Students at Hamilton College, as the liberal arts school loves to point out, study whatever interests them. Thanks to an open curriculum, they aren’t bound by a strict track of courses and prerequisites. That doesn’t mean there aren’t specific requirements to earn a degree in one of the 44 majors offered at Hamilton, though. The college emphasizes strong critical thinking and communication skills, for example, so all students have to complete three writing courses.
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6. Wellesley College, MA
- Estimated price 2016-17 without aid: $63,600
- Estimated price 2016-17 with average aid: $24,300
- Early career earnings: $49,000
- Average SAT/AVT score: 1410/31
Wellesley is one the Seven Sisters, the prestigious consortium of East Coast women’s colleges once seen as the female equivalent of the predominantly male Ivy League. Today, as many women’s colleges struggle to recruit students, Wellesley still attracts an impressive group of applicants. The average student scores a combined 1480 on the SATs, and less than a third who apply are offered admission.
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5. Washington and Lee University, VA
- Estimated price 2016-17 without aid: $62,500
- Estimated price 2016-17 with average aid: $19,300
- Early career earnings: $53,900
- Average SAT/AVT score: 1385/32
Despite its high sticker price ($46,420 this year), Washington and Lee awards so much aid that the all-in price of a degree is comparatively low for a private liberal arts school. And, unlike the Ivy League and many other elite private colleges, W&L offers some merit scholarships to top students who might not qualify for need-based aid.
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4. Earlham College, IN
- Estimated price 2016-17 without aid: $56,700
- Estimated price 2016-17 with average aid: $24,700
- Early career earnings: $45,600
- Average SAT/AVT score: 1245/29
Earlham prides itself on exposing students to international culture. In addition to welcoming students from more than 80 countries, the school offers courses in 11 languages, including Arabic, Chinese, and Swahili. More than two-thirds of students study abroad at some point in their college career.
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3. Saint Johns University, MN
- Estimated price 2016-17 without aid: $52,400
- Estimated price 2016-17 with average aid: $28,300
- Early career earnings: $47,400
- Average SAT/AVT score: 1096/26
Saint John’s University is a Catholic school for men that partners with a nearby women’s school, College of Saint Benedict. “Bennies”—students at the women’s college—and “Johnnies” share academic programs and have access to resources on both campuses. Nearly 80% of students graduate within six years, 12% higher than similar schools.
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2. Pomona College, CA
- Estimated price 2016-17 without aid: $65,200
- Estimated price 2016-17 with average aid: $24,100
- Early career earnings: $49,200
- Average SAT/AVT score: 1460/33
Pomona College is one of only a handful of schools that promise to meet the full demonstrated need of admitted students, allowing more than 70% of them to graduate without any student debt. The school also boasts an exceptional graduation rate: 90% of students leave with a degree within four years.
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1. Amherst College, MA
- Estimated price 2016-17 without aid: $66,600
- Estimated price 2016-17 with average aid: $18,000
- Early career earnings: $53,400
- Average SAT/AVT score: 1440/32
Amherst, our top-ranked traditional liberal arts school, has many qualities that set it apart among small elite colleges. For one, unlike most top schools, which dictate a variety of basic classes that lower classmen must take, Amherst has no required courses apart from a first-year seminar emphasizing writing and critical thinking. The school allows students, at no extra cost, to take classes offered by the other nearby colleges: Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, Smith, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.