National Liberal Arts Colleges Rankings

Williams College, a private institution in Williamstown, Massachusetts, has three undergraduate academic branches: humanities and the arts, social sciences, and science and mathematics. Classes at Williams are small and some use an Oxford-style teaching method that relies heavily on student participation.

Amherst College, a private school in Amherst, Massachusetts, is known for its rigorous academic climate. Because Amherst is a member of the Five Colleges consortium, students can also take courses at Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, Hampshire College and the University of Massachusetts—Amherst.

About 10 miles outside of Philadelphia is Swarthmore College, a private liberal arts institution that also offers a unique engineering degree program. Because Swarthmore is part of the Tri-College Consortium, students can also take courses at nearby Bryn Mawr College and Haverford College.

Pomona College is located in Claremont, California, about 35 miles away from downtown Los Angeles. Students can take advantage of this private institution's unique location during the annual Ski Beach Day, a morning of skiing at a local resort before an afternoon on a beach in Orange County.

Wellesley is a private liberal arts college for women about 10 miles from Boston in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Students at Wellesley have more than 1,000 courses and more than 50 majors to choose from and can also cross-register for classes at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Submitting SAT and ACT scores is optional for admission to Bowdoin College, a private institution located in the coastal New England town of Brunswick, Maine. The college is home to many organizations including the Peucinian Society, one of the oldest literary and intellectual societies in the country.

The United States Naval Academy is a public school located in the waterfront town of Annapolis, Maryland. Students, known as midshipmen, are officers in training, and tuition is fully funded by the U.S. Navy in return for active-duty service after graduation.

Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California, is a member of The Claremont Colleges, which include Scripps College, Pomona College, Harvey Mudd College and Pitzer College. Claremont McKenna students can take classes, play sports and attend social functions at the other member schools.

Carleton College is a private school in the historic river town of Northfield, Minnesota. Carls, as its students are known, have about 35 majors to choose from and more than 170 organizations to check out.

Among the academic focuses at Middlebury College are programs in environmental studies, international studies, the sciences and literature. The private institution is located in Middlebury, Vermont, in a valley between the Green Mountains and the Adirondack Mountains.