Small colleges in Connecticut are a great option for students interested in a more intimate campus experience, more personal attention from excellent professors, and more immediate access to support services. Whether the focus is on the technical or on the liberal arts, small colleges give you the chance to pursue a well-rounded education while working closely with classmates and professors in a dynamic community atmosphere.
Connecticut is home to a variety of top brick-and-mortar schools as well as a wide variety of fully accredited online colleges. Higher education in Connecticut includes both public and private institutions that offer associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees, both in person and through online degree programs.
With 19 public schools and 20 private schools, Connecticut gives both traditional and online students plenty of options to choose from.
Students seeking an affordable option can attend one of the state’s numerous community colleges, which average $4,000 a year for tuition. The in-state cost for tuition in Connecticut’s four year public schools ranges from $8,000 to $16,000. Many of the community and public colleges in Connecticut also offer online degree programs.
Students interested in psychology, economics, and communications can check out the University of Connecticut (UConn), which is home to the premier research institute for ecological psychology. Sacred Heart University, a Roman Catholic university, is known for its religious studies and business programs.
Those looking for a smaller student population and more online courses may want to check out Manchester Community College, which enrolls about 4000 students and offers affordable in-person and online degrees in literature, biology, and social work.
And of course, Connecticut is also home to Yale University, the fourth oldest learning institute in the United States. The venerable Ivy League school enrolls just over 15,000 students at its New Haven campus.
Both traditional and online students in Connecticut can choose from a variety of higher education experiences fitting a full spectrum of budgets and career goals. Learn more and begin earning your degree from one of the top brick-and-mortar or online colleges in Connecticut.
The following list of the best small colleges and universities in Connecticut is composed mainly of four-year undergraduate schools (though a handful also offer graduate programs). We’ve identified 11 small colleges in Connecticut. The list below of the best small colleges in Connecticut. To be included schools must fully accredited, and must have student body populations below 5,000 students.
Tuition + fees
$62K
Acceptance
19%
Graduation
91%
Student body
3K
Wesleyan University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$61K
Acceptance
38%
Graduation
85%
Student body
2K
Trinity College ’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$36K
Acceptance
73%
Graduation
44%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1025/19
University of Bridgeport’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$61K
Acceptance
41%
Graduation
81%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1380/31
Connecticut College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Acceptance
19%
Graduation
92%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1310/29
United States Coast Guard Academy’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$12K
Acceptance
85%
Graduation
53%
Student body
4K
Western Connecticut State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$8K
Student body
<1K
Charter Oak State College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$36K
Acceptance
78%
Graduation
41%
Student body
<1K
Mitchell College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$12K
Acceptance
73%
Graduation
57%
Student body
4K
Eastern Connecticut State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$36K
Acceptance
82%
Graduation
59%
Student body
1K
Albertus Magnus College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$43K
Acceptance
78%
Graduation
56%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1070/23
University of Saint Joseph ’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Many of our 2022 undergraduate focused rankings look considerably different than 2021. That’s because we took a fundamentally different apporach. For 2021 we utilized our Concentrated Influence algorithm, designed to take away the size advantage larger schools have when we rank their faculty and alumni’s academic influence. Concentrated influence highlights smaller schools that are proportionally as successful as larger universities at cultivating influential alumni and faculty.