Liberal Arts Colleges With Lowest Student-Faculty Ratios

Most liberal arts colleges—schools that award at least half of their degrees in the liberal arts fields of study—try to differentiate themselves from larger counterparts by touting the inherent benefits of an intimate educational environment. Small class sizes and the potential for individualized attention from faculty members outside of the classroom are often two of their central selling points. Vast lecture halls that can seat hundreds of students are commonplace on the campuses of some of the nation's largest universities, but are atypical among liberal arts schools. 

According to data provided by schools in a 2010 survey of undergraduate programs, liberal arts colleges have an average ratio of 12.2 students per faculty member, compared to 15.5 among national universities (schools that offer degrees of all types and emphasize research). Among the 1,311 institutions that provided data to U.S. News, the average student-faculty ratio is 14.8. 

[See the most popular liberal arts colleges.] 

Of the 250 liberal arts colleges surveyed by U.S. News, 231 provided student-faculty ratio data. California State University—Monterey Bay has the highest ratio—27 students per faculty member. Lowest among the group are Pomona College, Randolph College, the United States Military Academy, and the top-ranked liberal arts school, Williams College, each of which boasts seven students per faculty member. In all, 69 liberal arts schools have a ratio of 10:1 or less. 

In theory, the lower the student-faculty ratio is, the more access students should have to faculty members in and out of class. When choosing a school, if you place a premium on the amount of interaction you can have with professors, consult this list of the liberal arts schools with the lowest student-faculty ratios. 

The following table includes the liberal arts colleges (16 schools due to ties) with the lowest student-faculty ratios:  

*RNP denotes an institution that is ranked in the bottom one fourth of the National Liberal Arts College category. U.S. News calculates a rank for the school but has decided not to publish it. Institutions designated as Unranked by U.S. News were not considered for this list. 

Don't see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News College Compass to find student-faculty ratios, complete rankings, and much more. 

U.S. News surveyed more than 1,700 colleges and universities for our 2010 survey of undergraduate programs. Schools self-reported a myriad of data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News's 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 comes from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News's rankings of Best Colleges or Best Graduate Schools.