The hot topic in the press recently has been about the financial viability of small private liberal arts colleges. Can parents and students be confident in considering small private colleges? They read in the press and online about the closure of colleges, and they do not want their sons and daughters to go through the process of having to transfer to a different college due to a closure. Beware of the self-fulfilling prophecy. A self-fulfilling prophecy is a situation where

FACTS ABOUT TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY Transylvania University is a liberal arts college located in Lexington, Kentucky. They operate on a 4-4-1 academic calendar. From mid-April through mid-May, they have a May term during which many students study off campus in other countries, are on tour with music groups, study in other parts of the United State, or participate in on-campus extended research. May Terms at colleges are rare (only a couple dozen in the U.S.). This university

FACTS ABOUT THOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY Thomas Jefferson University is a private research university focused on professional and pre-professional education. While it is not a liberal arts college by definition, it infuses liberal arts into its professional curricula. TJU is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The university has a student body of 3,339 full-time undergraduate students. 968 of these students live on campus. Thomas Jefferson University offers 49 undergraduate

FACTS ABOUT MONMOUTH COLLEGE: Monmouth College is a liberal arts college located in Monmouth, Illinois (population 9,000), about 3.5 hours west of the Chicago metro area. The college has a primarily residential student body of 720 undergraduate students. Monmouth College offers 39 majors and 22 minors. 91% acceptance rate. They consider a wide range of students (C+ to A+) and give significant merit scholarships to 2.50 and higher students. Tuition $46,920 Housing $6,764 Me

You are not too late! May 1 has passed…and guess what? There are at least 487 small (mostly private) colleges that are likely STILL ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS. Most of them are also most likely STILL AWARDING GENEROUS MERIT SCHOLARSHIPS. There is always a chance that a few of them will fill their classes sometime throughout the summer, so I cannot make any promises…but the odds (of them still accepting applications and deposits) are excellent. All the colleges on my list have so

I just got home from visiting the most incredible college campus---Principia College in Elsah, Illinois (less than an hour outside the St. Louis metropolitan area.) In many ways, to the 3.4 million high school seniors throughout the United States, this is a brand-new college---never before on their radar. From 1934 until 2022, they admitted only students who were members of the Christian Science religion. Now, beginning in 2022, they welcome students of all faith backgrounds.

FACTS ABOUT HARDIN-SIMMONS UNIVERSITY Hardin-Simmons University is a Christian college located in Abilene, Texas (population 128,000), about 3 hours west of the Dallas/Fort Worth metro area. The college has a primarily residential student body of 1,200 undergraduate students. Hardin-Simmons University offers more than 50 bachelor, minor, and certificate programs, as well as several graduate programs. 97% acceptance rate. They consider a wide range of students (B- to A+). 2026

PETER’S HIDDEN GEM SERIES. #2 FACTS ABOUT EARLHAM COLLEGE Earlham College is in Richmond, Indiana (population 36,000) located 40 minutes west of Dayton, Ohio, and 4 hours southeast of Chicago, Illinois. It is also 75 miles east of Indianapolis, Indiana. The college has a primarily residential student body of 670 from 44 states and 55 countries. Earlham College offers 42 majors, 39 minors and pre-professional programs including the option to create a student-designed major. Th

FACTS ABOUT MCPHERSON COLLEGE McPherson College is in McPherson, KS (population 19,000) located just 45 minutes north of Wichita and 3 hours west of Kansas City. The college has a primarily residential student body of over 800 from 33 states and 26 countries McPherson College offers over 60 majors, minors and pre-professional programs including the option to create a student-designed major. Their endowment is $1.5 billion. 77-84% acceptance rate (average GPA is 3.4 and range

Are you debating between biology, psychology, chemistry, physics, computer science, medicine, mathematics, philosophy, linguistics, and engineering? If so, try neuroscience. It’s not exactly new—it is “new-ish” (formalized as a major in the 1960’s and 70’s), but it is certainly gaining in popularity. Enrollment in neuroscience at the undergraduate level has increased significantly (over 40%) in recent years. This popularity is driven by an increased interest in disorders of t

There are more and more colleges and universities that are adding majors in artificial intelligence to their curriculum. I’m sure you are familiar with these: Carnegie Mellon Penn UC San Diego CalTech Stanford Cornell U Long Island U Keiser U MIT Georgia Tech Michigan Columbia U U of Illinois Dakota State U of Maryland UC Berkeley Harvard UT Austin Purdue U of Washington IU Bloomington Arizona State Princeton What do these have in common? Most are large to huge (CalTech is an

When you hear the words “liberal arts college” what do you think of? Poetry, philosophy, and music? Hard to find a job? Students living...

Very few “top ranked small colleges” will cost a higher-income family less than $30K. In fact, they are usually closer to $40K-$90K. ...

V. Peter Pitts, M.A. 8/6/2025 I just finished updating my “small private college database” and found some interesting facts and...

WHY IS COLLEGE SO &$!#% EXPENSIVE? What exactly are you paying for? V. Peter Pitts, M.A. Having children is expensive. Period. The...

Recently, Monmouth College (a small liberal arts college in Illinois) made a bold move. They did a total reorganization of their majors...

How A Liberal Arts Education Helps Students Prepare for A Career in Law By Ed Wimp Exposure My favorite thing about being a lawyer is...

Here is a list of excellent small colleges that are very affordable, even if your family does not qualify for income-based financial aid....

There is a Ted Talk by Kai Kight entitled “Why Majors Don’t Matter.” [You can find it on YouTube] I don’t listen to a lot of Ted Talks,...

If you look on the calendar, you can see that May 1 has come and gone. Just as an FYI, there are hundreds of colleges, especially small...