21 Liberal Arts Colleges With the Lowest Student-Faculty Ratios
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Attending a college with a low student-to-faculty ratio can mean more personalized attention for students.
Prospective students looking to learn in a tight-knit classroom environment may want to consider U.S. liberal arts colleges instead of larger universities.
[Learn 10 reasons to go to a small college.]
Among the 222 ranked National Liberal Arts Colleges that provided student-faculty ratios to U.S. News in an annual survey, the average was just 11 students per faculty member. Schools in this category focus on undergraduate education and award at least half of their degrees in the liberal arts fields of study.
In comparison, the ratio at ranked National Universities, which offer a wide range of undergrad programs, plus master's and doctoral degrees, was 16 students per faculty member.
At the 21 National Liberal Arts Colleges that had the lowest student-faculty ratios in fall 2014 , the average was just half of that: eight students for each faculty member.
Marlboro College in Vermont had the lowest student-faculty ratio, 5-to-1, as well as the lowest total undergraduate enrollment, 230, among the 21 schools on the list.
Among all 222 liberal arts colleges, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology and Colorado Mesa University had the highest student-faculty ratios, with an average of 23 students per faculty member.
[Consider attending a U.S. college outside a major urban area.]
The top three National Liberal Arts Colleges -- Williams College and Amherst College in Massachusetts, and Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania -- all made the list of schools with the lowest student-faculty ratios. The latter two had an average of eight students per faculty member, while Williams College -- ranked No. 1 -- saw a 7-1 ratio. Student-faculty ratio is among the many factors U.S. News considers when ranking the Best Colleges, making up 1 percent of the rankings formula.
Most of the schools on the list were also on the East Coast, though there were a handful located elsewhere, including three in California.
Below is a list of the 21 National Liberal Arts Colleges with the lowest rounded number of students per faculty member in fall 2014. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be numerically ranked, were not considered for this report.
School (state) | Students per faculty member (rounded) | Undergraduate enrollment | U.S. News National Liberal Arts Colleges rank |
|---|---|---|---|
5 | 230 | 136 (tie) | |
7 | 495 | 127 (tie) | |
7 | 426 | 55 (tie) | |
7 | 4,414 | 22 | |
7 | 2,323 | 4 (tie) | |
7 | 2,045 | 1 | |
8 | 1,792 | 2 | |
8 | 1,308 | 25 (tie) | |
8 | 553 | 148 (tie) | |
8 | 1,301 | 9 (tie) | |
8 | 596 | 108 (tie) | |
8 | 1,650 | 4 (tie) | |
8 | 2,632 | 38 (tie) | |
8 | 412 | 45 (tie) | |
8 | 1,542 | 3 | |
8 | 3,952 | 29 (tie) | |
8 | 4,511 | 9 (tie) | |
8 | 2,984 | 32 (tie) | |
8 | 2,418 | 12 (tie) | |
8 | 1,890 | 14 (tie) | |
8 | 2,928 | 14 (tie) |
Don't see your school in the top 21? Access the U.S. News College Compass to find student-faculty ratio data, complete rankings and much more. School officials can access historical data and rankings, including of peer institutions, via U.S. News Academic Insights.
U.S. News surveyed nearly 1,800 colleges and universities for our 2015 survey of undergraduate programs. Schools self-reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News' data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Colleges rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data come from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News' rankings of Best Colleges, Best Graduate Schools or Best Online Programs. The student-faculty ratio data above are correct as of April 19, 2016.
Jordan Friedman is an online education editor at U.S. News. You can follow him on Twitter or email him at jfriedman@usnews.com.
