The Best Small Colleges in the Northeast
- The Northeast is home to many highly ranked small colleges.graduation image by timur1970 from Fotolia.com
The Northeast is home to many of the nation's top-ranked small colleges, including the top five schools in the "U.S. News & World Report" 2010 ranking of liberal arts colleges. These colleges' small student populations, with fewer than 2,500 students, enable undergraduates to get to know their professors and peers well in a stimulating academic environment. - Williams College, a private liberal arts college, was founded as an all-male college in 1793. Williams began to admit women in 1970. As of 2009, the college had about 2,100 undergraduates working toward degrees within 24 different departments. The college also offers selected graduate programs leading toward masters degrees in art history and economics. In 2010, "U.S. News & World Report" ranked Williams College first among the nation's liberal arts colleges.
Williams College
880 Main St.
Williamstown, MA 01267
413-597-3131
Williams.edu/ - Amherst College, a private liberal arts college, was founded in 1821 as an all-male college. Amherst began to admit women in 1975. As of 2009, the school had approximately 1,700 undergraduates working toward degrees in 34 academic majors. Amherst students can also take classes at any of the other colleges within the Five College Consortium, including the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Mt. Holyoke College, Smith College and Hampshire College. In 2010, "U.S. News & World Report" ranked Amherst College second among the nation's liberal arts colleges.
Amherst College
Keefe Campus Center
Amherst, MA 01002
413-542-2328
Amherst.edu/ - Swarthmore College, a private liberal arts college, was founded by Quakers in 1864. As of 2009, the school had approximately 1,500 undergraduates. Swarthmore students can choose majors and minors in more than 30 academic departments. The college also offers courses in seven languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian and German. Swarthmore College belongs to the Tri-College Consortium, which also includes Bryn Mawr College and Haverford College, nearby schools with similar Quaker heritage. Swarthmore students can also take classes at the University of Pennsylvania. Swarthmore College ranked third in the "U.S. News & World Report" 2010 ranking of liberal arts colleges.
Swarthmore College
500 College Ave.
Swarthmore, PA 19081
610-328-8000
Swarthmore.edu/ - Middlebury College, a private liberal arts college, was founded in 1800. As of 2009, the school had approximately 2,400 undergraduates working toward bachelors degrees in 44 different academic majors. Middlebury College also oversees the summer Language Schools, which offer summer study in ten different languages. Students take a pledge to speak only the language of study for the summer. Middlebury College has one of the nation's oldest environmental studies programs (founded in 1965), and the school remains committed to sustainability and energy conservation. Middlebury College tied for 4th in the "U.S. News & World Report" 2010 ranking of liberal arts colleges.
Middlebury College
South Main St.
Middlebury, VT 05753
802-443-5000
middlebury.edu/ - Wellesley College is a private, all-female liberal arts college that was founded in 1875. As of 2009, the school had approximately 2,300 undergraduates. The college offers majors and minors in 56 academic departments, including a wide variety of international studies fields such as East Asian languages and literature, Jewish studies, Middle Eastern studies, South Asia studies, Italian studies, and peace and justice studies. Wellesley students can also take classes at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brandeis University. Wellesley College tied for 4th in the "U.S. News & World Report" 2010 ranking of liberal arts colleges.
Wellesley College
106 Central St.
Wellesley, MA 02481
781-283-1000
Wellesley.edu/
