The Best Liberal Arts Colleges
Dec 16th, 2008 by GCR Editor
Google can do more than rank universities. It can also give us a ranking of liberal arts colleges in the United States. Here’s today’s ranking (recorded from a clean browser and with extraneous entries removed, as noted below). It will serve as a basis for future discussion and comparison:
- Hampshire College
- Dartmouth College
- Harvard College
- Ithaca College
- Williams College
- Vassar College
- Amherst College
- Grinnell College
- Swarthmore College
- Middlebury College
- Calvin College
- Reed College
- Bates College
- Kenyon College
- Bryn Mawr College
- St. John’s College
- Davidson College
- Pomona College
- Wheaton College (Illinois)
- Harvey Mudd College
- Gettysburg College
- Hunter College
- Hamilton College
- College of William and Mary
- Hope College
Although observers of American colleges will recognize all of these names as excellent institutions, there are a number of interesting placements that deserve comment in future posts. Hampshire’s position with respect to Amherst is especially amusing — but given the Google everflux, will they hold that position over the long term?
Furthermore, the term “college” is highly variable in its usage, so these institutions don’t all fit the mold of a stereotypical small liberal arts college. Harvard “College” is the undergraduate division of Harvard University, so it partakes of the character of a major research institution. Similarly, Dartmouth “College” and the “College” of William and Mary are really universities of national standing, with extensive graduate programs in addition to an undergraduate core.
