Small colleges in Georgia 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.
Georgia has 70 colleges and universities, 38 of which are public institutions. The University of Georgia, located in the city of Athens, is the largest, with over 35,000 students. Those attending Georgia State University and Georgia Southern University will enter into a friendly athletics rivalry. Tuition at Georgia State costs $9,000, and at Georgia Southern, $6,000. Of the 20 religiously affiliated schools, Emory University has both the highest tuition, just over $50,000, and student population, with over 13,000 in attendance. Whether you’re looking to earn your associate, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree, Georgia schools offer plenty of options.
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Students can earn degrees in religious studies, business, social work, law, and computer science. Those looking to attend technical colleges can also choose from a handful of schools that offer two-year degrees in medicine, nursing, and education. Part of the University System of Georgia, Atlanta Metropolitan State college is the state’s most affordable college at $3,000, and its students can major in fields like mathematics, criminal justice, and philosophy.
The Blue Ridge Mountains, oak and hickory forests, and the Atlantic Coastal Plain all make their home in Georgia, but the state’s most notable landform is the Okefenokee Swamp, the largest such water-mass in North America. This diverse landscape in The Peach State provides Georgia’s college and graduate students with a beautiful backdrop for an education.
Georgia also offers a loan repayment program for qualifying graduates in the medical field through the Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce. Check out the best degree programs and top career paths this southern state has to offer.
The following list of the best small colleges and universities in Georgia is composed mainly of four-year undergraduate schools (though a handful also offer graduate programs). There are 32 small colleges in Georgia; 15 of which meet our criteria. The list below of the best small colleges in the state satisfies the following four conditions:
The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great. This is why, at the undergraduate level, we rank the best colleges and universities based on what we call “Concentrated Influence”. Concentrated Influence takes the combined influence score of a college or university’s top academic influencers (including faculty and alums) and divides it by the school’s total number of undergraduates.
Using concentrated influence gives small and mid-sized schools an opportunity to shine by taking away the size advantage of larger universities. A small school with proportionately more influential faculty than a large school, whose influence in absolute terms may be bigger, will nonetheless score higher in a concentrated influence ranking. Our approach highlights undergraduate schools that truly rank for excellence, regardless of size.
If you are serious about finding the best colleges and universities for a bachelor’s degree, you should be asking where the most influential professors are teaching and whether their graduates are themselves advancing the school’s reputation for academic excellence.
Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Concentrated Influence provides a ranking that is free from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.
Tuition + fees
$29K
Acceptance
77%
Graduation
56%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1081/20
Morehouse College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$30K
Acceptance
53%
Graduation
75%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1155/24
Spelman College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$44K
Acceptance
68%
Graduation
72%
Student body
1K
Agnes Scott College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$25K
Acceptance
60%
Graduation
51%
Student body
<1K
Median SAT/ACT
1030/19
Wesleyan College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$41K
Acceptance
67%
Graduation
51%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1195/25
Oglethorpe University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$28K
Acceptance
70%
Graduation
43%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1060/21
Piedmont University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$38K
Acceptance
77%
Graduation
70%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1205/27
Berry College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$37K
Acceptance
98%
Graduation
68%
Student body
<1K
Median SAT/ACT
1215/26
Covenant College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$32K
Acceptance
92%
Graduation
41%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1030/20
Brenau University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$32K
Acceptance
60%
Graduation
44%
Student body
<1K
Median SAT/ACT
1074/21
LaGrange College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$19K
Acceptance
59%
Graduation
29%
Student body
<1K
Median SAT/ACT
905/16
Andrew College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$21K
Acceptance
58%
Graduation
49%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1035/19
Toccoa Falls College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$4K
Acceptance
79%
Graduation
16%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
930/17
Gordon State College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$22K
Acceptance
97%
Graduation
35%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1040/20
Truett McConnell University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$30K
Acceptance
65%
Graduation
44%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1040/20
Young Harris College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
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