The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: College, The Short List: Grad School and The Short List: Online Programs to find data that matter to you in your college or grad school search.
For some college students, class size matters.
Smaller classes, for instance, can help ensure that professors provide individualized attention. At the same time, students aren’t among hundreds of others in a crowded lecture hall and will have to prepare to actively participate in classroom discussions.
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Among the 294 ranked National Universities that submitted these data to U.S. News in an annual survey, an average of 45.8 percent of courses offered in fall 2016 had fewer than 20 students. National Universities are institutions that offer a range of undergraduate programs as well as master’s and doctoral degrees.
For the 10 schools with the greatest proportion of classes with fewer than 20 students, the average figure was much higher: 81 percent.
The New School in New York tops the list, with 90.5 percent of fall 2016 courses having fewer than 20 students. The university’s total undergraduate enrollment at the time was 7,014.
[Discover 10 reasons to go to a small college.]
A few of the ranked colleges on the list are also among the top ranked National Universities: Yale University in Connecticut and the University of Chicago, both tied at No. 3; Columbia University in New York, in a tie at No. 5; and Northwestern University in Illinois, tied for No. 11.
Below are the 10 National Universities that had the highest percentage of fall 2016 classes with fewer than 20 students. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be numerically ranked, were not considered for this report.
| School name (state) | Fall 2016 undergraduate enrollment | Percentage of fall 2016 classes with fewer than 20 students | U.S. News rank |
| New School (NY) | 7,014 | 90.5% | 133 (tie) |
| Immaculata University (PA) | 1,555 | 85.9% | 165 (tie) |
| Edgewood College (WI) | 1,661 | 83% | 181 (tie) |
| Columbia University (NY) | 6,113 | 82.9% | 5 (tie) |
| Nova Southeastern University (FL) | 4,295 | 82.4% | 198 (tie) |
| Barry University (FL) | 3,541 | 77.9% | RNP* |
| Tennessee State University | 7,007 | 77.6% | RNP |
| Northwestern University (IL) | 8,353 | 77.4% | 11 (tie) |
| University of Chicago | 5,941 | 77% | 3 (tie) |
| Yale University (CT) | 5,472 | 75.2% | 3 (tie) |
* RNP denotes an institution that is ranked in the bottom one-fourth of its ranking category. U.S. News calculates a rank for the school but has decided not to publish it.
Don’t see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News College Compass to find class size data, complete rankings and much more. Sign up for the U.S. News Extra Help: College Admissions free email newsletter to receive expert advice twice a month.
U.S. News surveyed more than 1,800 colleges and universities for our 2017 survey of undergraduate programs. Schools self-reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News’ data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Colleges rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data come from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News’ rankings of Best Colleges, Best Graduate Schools or Best Online Programs. The class size data above are correct as of Oct. 17, 2017.
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10 National Universities Where Classes Are Small originally appeared on usnews.com
