The Best Southeastern Small Colleges
These are the top ranked small, public and private, four-year colleges in the Southeast 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
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
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
Hendrix College
- Private 4 Year
- Conway, AR
-
| 0 reviews
- 1,110 total enrollment
Hendrix is a private liberal arts college known for undergraduate sciences and its Odyssey experiential-learning program. Most students live on the residential campus in the college town of Conway.
- SAT Range 1123-1348
- Avg GPA 3.79
- Acceptance Rate 56%
- Net Price $24,699
Goucher College
- Private 4 Year
- Baltimore, MD
-
| 0 reviews
- 1,459 total enrollment
Goucher is a private liberal arts college known for undergraduate creative writing, dance, and international studies. Every undergraduate completes a required study abroad experience.
- SAT Range 1090-1325
- Avg GPA 3.23
- Acceptance Rate 78%
- Net Price $26,913
John Brown University
- Private 4 Year
- Siloam Springs, AR
-
| 0 reviews
- 2,350 total enrollment
John Brown is a private Christian university known for undergraduate engineering, nursing, and business. The residential campus is in the small college town of Siloam Springs in northwest Arkansas.
- SAT Range 1070-1340
- Avg GPA 3.77
- Acceptance Rate 76%
- Net Price $21,537
Agnes Scott College
- Private 4 Year
- Decatur, GA
-
5.0 | 1 reviews
- 1,079 total enrollment
Agnes Scott is a private women's liberal arts college known for undergraduate sciences, writing, and global learning. The residential campus sits in historic Decatur, just outside Atlanta.
- SAT Range 1160-1330
- Avg GPA 3.77
- Acceptance Rate 62%
- Net Price $27,499
Eckerd College
- Private 4 Year
- Saint Petersburg, FL
-
4.0 | 1 reviews
- 1,893 total enrollment
Eckerd is a private liberal arts college known for undergraduate marine science and environmental studies. The waterfront campus borders Boca Ciega Bay in St. Petersburg.
- SAT Range 1160-1330
- Avg GPA 3.8
- Acceptance Rate 76%
- Net Price $43,884