The Best Southern Small Colleges
These are the top ranked small, public and private, four-year colleges in the South as ranked by CollegeSimply. These schools all have total enrollment under 3,000. Small colleges allow students a more intimate and personalized experience where it's more likely you will get to know your professors. Leading the list for 2027 is Washington and Lee University. Learn how the Best Small Colleges rankings are calculated on our ranking methodology page.
Washington and Lee University
- Private 4 Year
- Lexington, VA
-
4.3 | 3 reviews
- 2,241 total enrollment
Washington and Lee is a highly selective private liberal arts university known for undergraduate business, journalism, and politics. Most undergrads live under a strict student-run honor system on the historic campus in Lexington.
- SAT Range 1430-1540
- Predicted Avg GPA 3.87
- Acceptance Rate 14%
- Net Price $23,055
Davidson College
- Private 4 Year
- Davidson, NC
-
4.0 | 1 reviews
- 1,869 total enrollment
Davidson is a highly selective private liberal arts college known for undergraduate economics, political science, and the sciences. An honor code shapes unproctored exams and student self-governance on the residential campus near Charlotte.
- SAT Range 1400-1530
- Avg GPA 3.81
- Acceptance Rate 13%
- Net Price $27,720
Trinity University
- Private 4 Year
- San Antonio, TX
-
| 0 reviews
- 2,687 total enrollment
Trinity is a private university known for undergraduate business, communication, and the sciences. Most students live on a residential hilltop campus overlooking downtown San Antonio.
- SAT Range 1340-1500
- Avg GPA 3.68
- Acceptance Rate 26%
- Net Price $32,224
The University of the South
- Private 4 Year
- Sewanee, TN
-
4.5 | 2 reviews
- 1,724 total enrollment
Sewanee is a private liberal arts college known for undergraduate English, creative writing, and environmental studies. The campus occupies a 13,000-acre domain on Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau.
- SAT Range 1260-1390
- Avg GPA NA
- Acceptance Rate 57%
- Net Price $34,815
Furman University
- Private 4 Year
- Greenville, SC
-
| 0 reviews
- 2,554 total enrollment
Furman is a private liberal arts university known for undergraduate biology, political science, and business. The residential campus centers on a lake just outside Greenville.
- SAT Range 1260-1430
- Avg GPA 3.61
- Acceptance Rate 43%
- Net Price $34,086
Rhodes College
- Private 4 Year
- Memphis, TN
-
4.5 | 2 reviews
- 1,861 total enrollment
Rhodes is a private liberal arts college known for undergraduate biology and international studies. The collegiate Gothic campus sits in a wooded residential section of Memphis.
- SAT Range 1300-1486
- Avg GPA 3.99
- Acceptance Rate 50%
- Net Price $31,037
Virginia Military Institute
- Public 4 Year
- Lexington, VA
-
5.0 | 2 reviews
- 1,527 total enrollment
VMI is a public military college known for undergraduate engineering and the sciences. All students join the Corps of Cadets and live in barracks under a military regimen on the historic Lexington campus.
- SAT Range 1050-1270
- Avg GPA 3.65
- Acceptance Rate 71%
- Net Price $18,825
Centre College
- Private 4 Year
- Danville, KY
-
| 0 reviews
- 1,404 total enrollment
Centre is a private liberal arts college known for undergraduate economics, politics, and the natural sciences. Most students live on the residential campus in the small college town of Danville.
- SAT Range 1160-1450
- Avg GPA 3.62
- Acceptance Rate 54%
- Net Price $23,860
Wofford College
- Private 4 Year
- Spartanburg, SC
-
3.1 | 8 reviews
- 1,817 total enrollment
Wofford is a private liberal arts college known for undergraduate biology, finance, and government. The historic campus in Spartanburg has a large Greek system.
- SAT Range 1198-1343
- Avg GPA 3.7
- Acceptance Rate 52%
- Net Price $30,481
St. Mary's College of Maryland
- Public 4 Year
- St. Mary's City, MD
-
| 0 reviews
- 1,630 total enrollment
St. Mary's College of Maryland is a public honors college known for undergraduate liberal arts. The historic campus sits on the St. Mary's River in southern Maryland.
- SAT Range 1143-1340
- Avg GPA 3.45
- Acceptance Rate 69%
- Net Price $21,071
Union University
- Private 4 Year
- Jackson, TN
-
| 0 reviews
- 2,713 total enrollment
Union is a private Christian university known for undergraduate nursing, education, and Christian studies. The residential campus sits in Jackson in West Tennessee.
- SAT Range 1160-1390
- Avg GPA 3.8
- Acceptance Rate 60%
- Net Price $28,452
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
- Public 4 Year
- Socorro, NM
-
| 0 reviews
- 1,622 total enrollment
New Mexico Tech is a small public technological university known for undergraduate engineering, earth sciences, and physics. The campus is in the small town of Socorro in central New Mexico.
- SAT Range 1080-1310
- Predicted Avg GPA 3.63
- Acceptance Rate 44%
- Net Price $11,551
Southwestern University
- Private 4 Year
- Georgetown, TX
-
4.5 | 2 reviews
- 1,440 total enrollment
Southwestern is a private liberal arts college known for undergraduate study in the arts and sciences. Most students live on the residential campus in historic Georgetown, north of Austin.
- SAT Range 1130-1300
- Avg GPA 3.5
- Acceptance Rate 43%
- Net Price $32,228
Austin College
- Private 4 Year
- Sherman, TX
-
| 0 reviews
- 1,217 total enrollment
Austin College is a private liberal arts college known for undergraduate sciences and international studies. Most undergrads live on the residential campus in Sherman, north of Dallas.
- SAT Range 1100-1310
- Avg GPA 3.63
- Acceptance Rate 48%
- Net Price $23,462
University of Dallas
- Private 4 Year
- Irving, TX
-
4.2 | 5 reviews
- 2,078 total enrollment
University of Dallas is a private Catholic university known for a Great Books core curriculum and undergraduate work in philosophy, politics, and the humanities. The suburban campus sits in Irving just outside Dallas.
- SAT Range 1120-1370
- Avg GPA 3.9
- Acceptance Rate 53%
- Net Price $29,209
Queens University of Charlotte
- Private 4 Year
- Charlotte, NC
-
| 0 reviews
- 1,599 total enrollment
Queens is a private university known for undergraduate nursing, business, and communications. The historic campus sits in Charlotte's Myers Park neighborhood.
- SAT Range 1140-1340
- Predicted Avg GPA 3.41
- Acceptance Rate 62%
- Net Price $31,839
Maryland Institute College of Art
- Private 4 Year
- Baltimore, MD
-
| 0 reviews
- 1,687 total enrollment
MICA is a private art and design college known for undergraduate illustration, graphic design, and fine arts. The urban campus lies in Baltimore's Station North Arts District.
- SAT Range 1078-1305
- Avg GPA 3.47
- Acceptance Rate 77%
- Net Price $47,834
University of North Carolina School of the Arts
- Public 4 Year
- Winston Salem, NC
-
| 0 reviews
- 1,111 total enrollment
UNCSA is a public arts conservatory known for undergraduate dance, drama, music, and filmmaking. Students train on a specialized campus in Winston-Salem devoted to intensive performing-arts study.
- SAT Range 1140-1370
- Avg GPA 3.75
- Acceptance Rate 30%
- Net Price $13,140