The quintessential large university experience—complete with sprawling urban campuses, teaching assistant-led lectures and frenzied game days—isn’t for everyone. It wasn’t for this author, who opted not to attend the nearby and well-regarded (and much cheaper) University of Wisconsin-Madison in favor of enrolling at a small Minnesota private college where professors knew undergraduates by name. Every year hundreds of thousands of students similarly seek a more personalized college experience; in the 2023-24 academic year, 435,937 students chose to enroll at one of the small colleges on the 2026 Forbes’ top 500 list.

Without the free advertising generated by D1 college sports franchises and headline-grabbing research, it can be hard to know what tiny colleges are out there to consider. There’s plenty of them—more than half of the private colleges on Forbes’ top 500 enroll fewer than 4,000 students. A small student body offers greater access to professors and more personalized coursework. Small schools also tend to focus on undergraduate education, which results in well-rounded liberal arts curriculums, comprehensive student support services and plentiful student housing. Small schools with strong science programs also offer undergraduate research opportunities, which could be a selling point as large universities struggle with dramatic cuts in federal research funding. Socially, small campuses can be easier to navigate—you’re likely to see the same faces in class, on the quad, and in the cafeteria, which could be a blessing or a curse.

These benefits can be found at nearly any small liberal arts college in the United States, but Forbes identified 50 schools that also offer a competitive return on investment, top-notch academics, high student satisfaction and stellar post-graduate salaries. To determine the best 50, listed below, we ranked public and private nonprofit colleges with fewer than 4,000........

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