Class size
These colleges report the fewest students per faculty member. 354 of the 354 colleges in our dataset qualify for this list, and colleges with a missing value for the fields used here are left out rather than guessed. The table below shows the top 20, led by California Institute of Technology (California).
Across all 354 qualifying colleges the students per faculty runs from 3:1 (California Institute of Technology) to 30:1 (Inter American University of Puerto Rico-Bayamon), with a median of 14:1. For comparison, the median across the 354 colleges in the full dataset that report it is 14:1.
| # | College | State | Students per faculty | Undergrads | Acceptance rate | Graduation rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California Institute of Technology | CA | 3:1 | 987 | 2.6% | 94.4% |
| 2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | MA | 3:1 | 4,535 | 4.5% | 96.4% |
| 3 | Carnegie Mellon University | PA | 5:1 | 7,304 | 11.7% | 94.1% |
| 4 | Duke University | NC | 5:1 | 6,442 | 5.7% | 96.8% |
| 5 | Princeton University | NJ | 5:1 | 5,709 | 4.6% | 97.6% |
| 6 | University of Chicago | IL | 5:1 | 7,569 | 4.5% | 95.9% |
| 7 | Yale University | CT | 5:1 | 6,758 | 3.9% | 95.7% |
| 8 | Amherst College | MA | 6:1 | 1,911 | 9.0% | 93.9% |
| 9 | Brown University | RI | 6:1 | 7,226 | 5.4% | 95.7% |
| 10 | Columbia University in the City of New York | NY | 6:1 | 8,973 | 4.0% | 96.1% |
| 11 | Johns Hopkins University | MD | 6:1 | 5,693 | 6.4% | 93.8% |
| 12 | Manhattan School of Music | NY | 6:1 | 539 | 40.8% | 78.3% |
| 13 | Northwestern University | IL | 6:1 | 9,201 | 7.7% | 95.1% |
| 14 | Rice University | TX | 6:1 | 4,776 | 8.0% | 94.6% |
| 15 | Stanford University | CA | 6:1 | 7,554 | 3.6% | 91.9% |
| 16 | United States Military Academy | NY | 6:1 | 4,408 | 12.4% | 87.1% |
| 17 | University of North Carolina School of the Arts | NC | 6:1 | 945 | 30.0% | 77.8% |
| 18 | Williams College | MA | 6:1 | 2,076 | 8.2% | 93.6% |
| 19 | California Institute of the Arts | CA | 7:1 | 860 | 32.3% | 66.7% |
| 20 | Dartmouth College | NH | 7:1 | 4,541 | 5.4% | 95.5% |
Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, Most-Recent-Cohorts-Institution, May 2026 release (file published 2026-05-26). Data fetched 2026-10-14. Open any row for the full college profile.
Of the 354 qualifying colleges, 172 are public and 182 are private nonprofit. Within the table, California appears 3 times, Massachusetts appears 3 times, New York appears 3 times. The median undergrads among the 20 listed colleges that report it is 5,234, against 7,078 for the whole dataset. The median acceptance rate among the 20 listed colleges that report it is 6.1%, against 44.6% for the whole dataset. 17 of the 20 listed colleges report an SAT range, and the midpoints of those ranges have a median near 1540.
The student-faculty ratio compares full-time-equivalent students with full-time-equivalent instructional staff. A low ratio can point to smaller classes and easier access to professors.
Each column in the table means the following.
The ratio is a campus-wide average. It does not tell you the size of the intro course you will take, and research faculty who rarely teach undergraduates are still counted.
To see how your own score compares, read what a 1540 SAT or a 34 ACT means for a college list, then check college costs by state for price context.
California Institute of Technology is first on this list, with students per faculty of 3:1. It leads 354 qualifying colleges in the dataset, so check what the number measures before treating it as a recommendation.
354 of the 354 colleges in our dataset qualify, and the table shows the top 20. Colleges with a missing value are excluded.
No. The list sorts on one number. It does not measure teaching, fit, program strength or what you would pay, so use it to find colleges to look at and then check each profile and the college's own website.
Colleges are drawn from the 354-college dataset built from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (May 2026 release (file published 2026-05-26); fetched 2026-10-14). Selection: Four-year public and private nonprofit colleges with at least 500 undergraduates: every college admitting 55% or fewer applicants, plus the 150 largest by undergraduate enrollment. Colleges that do not report test ranges are included with ranges shown as not reported. Reporting periods for the fields on this page: Fall 2016 or AcadYr 2016-17 entry cohort, as applicable; Fall 2022. Full definitions are on the methodology page, and the numbers are available as an open download.
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