College identity · Social and Cultural Identity

    Small and Personal

    Close-knit community where faculty know students by name.

    Best when you want relationships over anonymity.

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    This identity in numbers

    1,045

    colleges assigned

    Median average net price
    $23,006
    932 colleges reported
    Median admit rate
    75.3%
    821 colleges reported
    Median graduation rate
    62.5%
    1,041 colleges reported

    Medians across every college with this identity. Rates on a 0–100% scale. Source: U.S. College Scorecard.

    About this identity

    What “Small and Personal” means

    CollegesRef editorial

    Close-knit community where faculty know students by name. Best when you want relationships over anonymity.

    How colleges get this identity

    • Small student body — Students: more credit the closer to 1,500, none at 6,000
    • First-year retention rate — First-year retention rate: more credit the closer to 95%, none at 70%
    • Six-year graduation rate — Graduation rate: more credit the closer to 90%, none at 50%

    Each matching rule adds to a college's score for this identity, using verified federal data. Colleges that score with enough confidence are listed, editors can add or remove colleges, and the list is ordered by editorial picks, score and confidence, never by partner status.

    Read the methodology

    Signals behind this list

    Small size scale
    30 of 30
    Liberal arts college
    30 of 30
    Retention scale
    30 of 30
    Graduation scale
    30 of 30
    How many of the 30 colleges shown match each signal the rules check. Bars run from 0 to all 30.

    1,045 colleges

    Colleges with the Small and Personal identity

    Ordered by editorial representation, category score and confidence. Never by partner status.

    Bars: admit and graduation rates on a 0–100% scale; net price relative to $44,593, the highest among the 30 colleges shown.

    Showing the first 30 of 1,045. The quiz ranks the colleges in this identity that fit you best.

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    Each one is built from the same verified data and rules.