The Most Popular Liberal Arts Colleges

See a complete list of the nation's most popular liberal arts colleges.

By U.S. News Staff

January 24, 2012 RSS Feed Print

One of the best indicators of a school's popularity among students is the school's yield—the percentage of applicants accepted by a college who end up enrolling at that institution in the fall. The figures in these tables are from the fall 2010 entering class and show the students that were accepted, the students that enrolled, and the admit yield. In some cases, a school's yield has been impacted because it has either an early decision or early action plan where the yield typically approaches 100 percent for students admitted under those plans.

The table highlights the most popular National Liberal Arts Colleges, which are schools that place an emphasis on undergraduate education and award at least 50 percent of their degrees in the liberal arts.

[Read more about the most popular schools and check out a full list of the most popular National Universities.]

School name	Students accepted	First year enrollment	Yield
United States Naval Academy	1,464	1,245	85.0%
United States Military Academy	1,601	1,312	81.9%
United States Air Force Academy	1,566	1,269	81.0%
Savannah State University	1,261	989	78.4%
Berea College	564	429	76.1%
University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma	311	223	71.7%
Thomas Aquinas College	149	103	69.1%
Principia College	188	126	67.0%
Soka University of America	163	103	63.2%
Life University	416	240	57.7%
Clearwater Christian College	252	142	56.3%
University of Wisconsin--Parkside	1,468	805	54.8%
Grove City College	1,222	650	53.2%
Virginia Military Institute	940	469	49.9%
Pacific Union College	716	355	49.6%
Simpson University	346	169	48.8%
University of Virginia--Wise	865	407	47.1%
Colorado Mesa University	4,371	2,005	45.9%
Wheaton College	1,326	602	45.4%
Holy Cross College	319	144	45.1%
Barnard College	1,285	580	45.1%
Bethany College	606	271	44.7%
American Jewish University	45	20	44.4%
Williams College	1,241	548	44.2%
Wellesley College	1,440	633	44.0%
Goshen College	414	180	43.5%
Bowdoin College	1,183	510	43.1%
Claremont McKenna College	729	314	43.1%
Wisconsin Lutheran College	581	246	42.3%
Fort Lewis College	2,004	847	42.3%
Middlebury College	1,375	577	42.0%
Davidson College	1,205	499	41.4%
St. John's University	1,217	503	41.3%
Bucknell University	2,253	929	41.2%
University of Maine--Machias	290	117	40.3%
Pomona College	997	401	40.2%
Swarthmore College	974	388	39.8%
Amherst College	1,240	490	39.5%
Calvin College	2,368	935	39.5%
Ouachita Baptist University	1,161	451	38.8%
College of St. Benedict	1,382	536	38.8%
Erskine College	373	144	38.6%
Wesleyan College	280	108	38.6%
Eastern Mennonite University	539	206	38.2%
Pine Manor College	407	155	38.1%
Western State College of Colorado	1,280	486	38.0%
Haverford College	860	325	37.8%
Washington and Lee University	1,259	471	37.4%
Morehouse College	1,420	530	37.3%
Shorter University	1,204	448	37.2%
St. Olaf College	2,303	844	36.6%
Vassar College	1,847	666	36.1%
Colorado College	1,499	536	35.8%
Oberlin College	2,207	784	35.5%
Sweet Briar College	507	180	35.5%
Berry College	1,870	653	34.9%
St. Norbert College	1,750	604	34.5%
Houghton College	740	255	34.5%
Bates College	1,437	495	34.4%
Carleton College	1,496	512	34.2%
Wesleyan University	2,190	748	34.2%
Concordia College--Moorhead	1,980	675	34.1%
St. Vincent College	1,248	425	34.1%
College of the Atlantic	250	85	34.0%
Shawnee State University	3,462	1,176	34.0%
Grinnell College	1,228	415	33.8%
Colby College	1,440	484	33.6%
Smith College	1,881	631	33.5%
Eastern Nazarene College	543	182	33.5%
Bryn Mawr College	1,101	369	33.5%
Xavier University of Louisiana	2,337	779	33.3%
Gettysburg College	2,173	720	33.1%
Nebraska Wesleyan University	1,303	430	33.0%
Colgate University	2,597	850	32.7%
Hamilton College	1,430	467	32.7%
University of North Carolina--Asheville	1,824	595	32.6%
College of Idaho	845	274	32.4%
St. Lawrence University	1,887	609	32.3%
Ripon College	899	289	32.1%
Scripps College	820	263	32.1%
Castleton State College	1,650	525	31.8%
St. Mary's College of Maryland	1,393	443	31.8%
Linfield College	1,681	529	31.5%
Lane College	2,216	696	31.4%
Hendrix College	1,288	404	31.4%
Westminster College	1,025	321	31.3%
Mount Holyoke College	1,732	542	31.3%
Gordon College	1,119	350	31.3%
Simpson College	1,164	363	31.2%
Harvey Mudd College	638	196	30.7%
Wartburg College	1,577	484	30.7%
Hollins University	611	186	30.4%
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts	1,166	353	30.3%
Kenyon College	1,598	483	30.2%
Maryville College	920	277	30.1%
Presbyterian College	1,012	304	30.0%
St. Mary's College	1,119	333	29.8%
College of the Holy Cross	2,451	727	29.7%
Talladega College	906	267	29.5%
Hope College	2,601	766	29.5%
Trinity College	2,024	591	29.2%
Connecticut College	1,678	489	29.1%
Claflin University	1,453	423	29.1%
Illinois College	789	227	28.8%
University of Richmond	2,857	818	28.6%
Susquehanna University	2,243	642	28.6%
Wabash College	865	247	28.6%
Franklin and Marshall College	2,204	629	28.5%
University of Minnesota--Morris	1,479	419	28.3%
Brevard College	706	200	28.3%
Lyon College	717	203	28.3%
Northland College	458	129	28.2%
Augustana College	2,679	752	28.1%
Macalester College	1,837	515	28.0%
Illinois Wesleyan University	2,100	587	28.0%
Whitman College	1,493	415	27.8%
Bloomfield College	1,524	423	27.8%
Dillard University	1,608	446	27.7%
Lake Forest College	1,452	402	27.7%
Alma College	1,312	362	27.6%
Muhlenberg College	2,195	603	27.5%
Transylvania University	1,105	303	27.4%
Pitzer College	978	268	27.4%
Dickinson College	2,405	658	27.4%
Skidmore College	2,813	768	27.3%
Gustavus Adolphus College	2,259	614	27.2%
Agnes Scott College	975	265	27.2%
Westmont College	1,417	385	27.2%
Virginia Wesleyan College	1,090	295	27.1%
Emory and Henry College	920	248	27.0%
Doane College	1,221	329	26.9%
Spelman College	2,009	539	26.8%
Wofford College	1,607	431	26.8%
Denison University	2,326	623	26.8%
Lafayette College	2,430	648	26.7%
Bay Path College	548	145	26.5%
Union College	2,094	554	26.5%
Monmouth College	1,342	355	26.5%
Juniata College	1,592	421	26.4%
Lawrence University	1,739	452	26.0%
Lycoming College	1,334	345	25.9%
Earlham College	1,334	340	25.5%
Bard College	1,961	497	25.3%
Birmingham-Southern College	1,474	372	25.2%
Randolph College	663	163	24.6%
New College of Florida	751	183	24.4%
Albion College	1,578	384	24.3%
Coe College	1,473	357	24.2%
Georgetown College	1,404	336	23.9%
Austin College	1,335	319	23.9%
Bennington College	708	169	23.9%
Hiram College	1,244	296	23.8%
Purchase College--SUNY	2,835	672	23.7%
Warren Wilson College	925	219	23.7%
Beloit College	1,412	333	23.6%
Kalamazoo College	1,451	342	23.6%
Millsaps College	909	214	23.5%
Allegheny College	2,550	599	23.5%
Moravian College	1,584	372	23.5%
Louisiana State University--Alexandria	1,605	374	23.3%
Sewanee--University of the South	1,723	401	23.3%
Occidental College	2,466	573	23.2%
Hampshire College	1,838	427	23.2%
Cornell College	1,491	346	23.2%
Hampden-Sydney College	1,365	315	23.1%
Allen University	1,454	333	22.9%
Southwestern University	1,688	383	22.7%
Luther College	2,736	612	22.4%
Whittier College	2,027	453	22.3%
Wheaton College	2,014	450	22.3%
Wittenberg University	2,272	500	22.0%
Peace College	746	163	21.8%
SUNY College--Old Westbury	1,843	399	21.6%
Eckerd College	2,324	500	21.5%
Furman University	3,206	688	21.5%
Centre College	1,664	356	21.4%
Hobart and William Smith Colleges	2,909	618	21.2%
DePauw University	2,966	609	20.5%
Johnson C. Smith University	1,090	223	20.5%
Kentucky State University	3,116	635	20.4%
College of Wooster	3,122	625	20.0%
Stillman College	1,584	316	19.9%
St. Michael's College	2,773	553	19.9%
Knox College	1,806	359	19.9%
Rhodes College	2,543	502	19.7%
Tougaloo College	1,017	200	19.7%
Bennett College	1,067	208	19.5%
McDaniel College	2,114	410	19.4%
Ohio Wesleyan University	2,873	555	19.3%
Centenary College of Louisiana	995	192	19.3%
Central College	2,086	402	19.3%
Green Mountain College	914	175	19.1%
St. Anselm College	2,814	538	19.1%
Roanoke College	2,987	565	18.9%
Bridgewater College	2,983	552	18.5%
Hartwick College	2,669	488	18.3%
University of Puget Sound	3,448	625	18.1%
Siena College	4,260	769	18.1%
William Jewell College	1,531	271	17.7%
Marymount Manhattan College	2,896	505	17.4%
Bryn Athyn College of the New Church	417	72	17.3%
Guilford College	2,254	385	17.1%
Stonehill College	4,500	728	16.2%
Hanover College	1,996	320	16.0%
Albright College	3,038	485	16.0%
Westminster College	2,558	402	15.7%
Carthage College	4,760	730	15.3%
Goucher College	2,611	391	15.0%
Washington and Jefferson College	2,652	395	14.9%
Wells College	1,385	200	14.4%
Washington College	2,961	421	14.2%
Lewis & Clark College	3,598	493	13.7%
Ursinus College	3,274	442	13.5%
Randolph-Macon College	2,586	343	13.3%
Willamette University	3,306	427	12.9%
Drew University	4,442	495	11.1%
Oglethorpe University	2,111	230	10.9%