01 / KNOW BEFORE YOU GO
Compare all 26 colleges by state, academic system, liberal arts, and STEM/engineering.
How to read the numbers| College | State | Academic System | Liberal Arts | Engineering/STEM |
|---|
No colleges match this search. Try a college name or a two-letter state abbreviation.
Academic systems describe the year’s structure. Short terms and course loads are explained in each college’s source notes.
Liberal arts includes study across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. The Engineering/STEM column uses the original Yes/No labels for engineering degrees offered by the college; all listed colleges offer STEM study.
Compare the subjects, degree options, and experiences that fit your interests. Each college’s Sources links to official program information.
SMALL COLLEGES. EXPANSIVE POSSIBILITIES.
Why Little Ivy colleges are so desirable: ambitious academics, professors who know you, and a community you can help shape.
AN INDEPENDENT GUIDE · OCTOBER 2026
For students who want to be
known, challenged, and connected.
02 / WHY THE IVY LEAGUE APPEALS
The Ivy League’s appeal combines demanding academics, research resources, and far-reaching communities. These examples show what students can gain.
Expert faculty can challenge your thinking and guide original work. At Princeton, professors teach small first-year seminars and advise students on independent research and senior theses.
Princeton’s teaching and mentoringResearch universities offer substantial opportunities across disciplines. Yale connects undergraduates with research, internships, study abroad, and specialized career advising—ways to turn academic interests into experience.
Opportunities at YaleAlumni communities can support professional exploration and lifelong relationships. Harvard’s career network, regional clubs, and shared-interest groups connect students and graduates across fields and places.
Harvard’s alumni resourcesThe value comes from using these opportunities. An Ivy League name alone does not guarantee a job, graduate-school admission, or the right personal fit.
03 / THE ADDED LITTLE IVY BENEFITS
Little Ivies can pair demanding academics with the everyday advantages of a smaller college: closer relationships, an undergraduate focus, and a community where it is easier to become involved.
“Little Ivy” is an informal label, with no official membership or shared admissions standard. This guide retains the original site’s 18-college list—including larger institutions such as Tufts—so the differences stay visible.
About the informal labelPersonal attention, close mentorship, and a strong sense of belonging. These benefits vary by college and are also available at Ivy League schools.
Rigorous reading, writing, research, and debate turn academic ambition into practice. At Williams, tutorials pair two students with a professor for sustained intellectual exchange.
Williams tutorialsSmall classes can make discussion and feedback part of daily life. Union reports average classes of 24 at the introductory level and 14 in upper-level courses.
Union’s class profileFaculty mentorship can begin early. Amherst offers students opportunities to work alongside professors, with research during the academic year and summer.
Research at AmherstThe strongest alumni network is one students can actually use. Bowdoin’s Sophomore Bootcamp connects each participant with two alumni, alongside career preparation.
Bowdoin’s career approachResidential life can connect academic and social interests. Union’s seven Minerva Houses bring students into shared intellectual, social, and leadership activities.
Union’s campus communityResearch, internships, and close advising can help students build toward work or graduate study. Look for evidence in your field—and check the cohort and response rate behind outcome claims.
Explore a college’s outcomes04 / THE BENEFITS OF THREE COURSES
Both colleges describe a typical three-course term. For students at Dartmouth and Union, this approach can offer the benefits of focused attention, deeper engagement, and simpler weekly planning.
Fewer simultaneous subjects can make it easier to stay immersed in each one, with fewer shifts between different readings, assignments, and ways of thinking.
A narrower set of subjects can support sustained attention to challenging ideas, thoughtful preparation for discussions, and follow-through on projects.
Coordinating three course schedules can simplify planning for classes, office hours, and study sessions, helping you see where your attention is needed.
These are potential benefits, not guarantees of less work. Individual course loads may vary. Shorter terms can move quickly; labs, credit loads, and course demands still determine the workload. Course-load sources checked October 4, 2026.
ACADEMIC PERSONALITY MATTERS
Choose the experience that fits how you think.
These examples are starting points, not rankings.
WILLIAMS · MASSACHUSETTS
In tutorials, two students alternate presenting and critiquing work with a professor’s guidance.
Discover tutorialsAMHERST · MASSACHUSETTS
An open curriculum allows broad choice beyond the first-year seminar and major requirements, with faculty advising.
Explore the open curriculumTHE MOST IMPORTANT COMPARISON
The right college offers more than a name. It gives you people, opportunities, and a pace of life that help you do your best work.
Return to the comparisonAsk about introductory class sizes, access to professors, and how students join research projects.
Read current requirements. A STEM program, an engineering degree, and a dual-degree pathway are different options.
Use the college’s net price calculator and confirm current aid and scholarship terms.
Talk to students about belonging, advising, campus life, internships, and what they would change.
05 / THE EVIDENCE BEHIND THE GUIDE
Research checked October 3, 2026.
A dated editorial snapshot, not a live data feed.
Calendars: IPEDS 2024 Institutional Characteristics, CALSYS. Dartmouth and Union are listed as “3 courses per term,” based on their official course-load descriptions, checked October 4, 2026. Each row links to its source notes. “Traditional semester” is the simplified comparison label for the other 24 colleges. Additional short terms, including 4–1–4 calendars and Bates’s Short Term, are explained in the individual source notes. Confirm current dates and course requirements in the institution’s catalog.
The College Information Service identity, “Know before you go” theme, 18-college Little Ivy list, eight Ivy League schools, state comparisons, and academic calendars are preserved. The comparison uses the selected original academic categories, with official sources for academic systems and engineering programs.
Old 2023–24 application deadlines, “Fill In” cells, and unverified scholarship flags were removed. The Engineering/STEM column retains the original Yes/No entries; source details distinguish on-campus engineering degrees from partner pathways. Official program sources are linked for each college. Check each admissions office for current deadlines and aid rules.
This is an independent guide, not an official college publication or ranking. The informal Little Ivy grouping is not a claim that every school has the same selectivity, scale, resources, or educational model. Notable alumni and selective admissions do not establish a causal advantage in earnings or graduate-school admission.
Current source availability and reporting lags differ. The comparison is a dated snapshot, not a claim that every institution’s newest publication has been captured. Quantitative outcome rankings are omitted because cohorts, definitions, and response rates were not harmonized.
Campus photograph by Matt H. Wade (UpstateNYer), courtesy of Schaffer Library, Union College, September 19, 2009. Nott and West College, licensed CC BY-SA 3.0. Displayed with responsive cropping and resized WebP conversion; the adapted image retains that license. The historical photograph does not document current facilities.
