Liberal arts colleges are a great option for students seeking a well-rounded education in an intimate campus setting. The best liberal arts colleges in Indiana offer a diverse selection of degree programs with opportunities for a highly individualized educational experience.
Among Indiana’s schools are some well-known colleges and universities, including the University of Notre Dame, Purdue University, and Butler University. While tuition and student population vary greatly among these schools, each boasts a high graduation rate. The state’s largest public university, Indiana University Bloomington, also notes a high graduation rate for its roughly 40,000 students and offers tuition just above the national average at $11,000.
Find college admissions consultants in your state.
Additionally, students hoping to attend a school with a religious affiliation have nearly 30 options to choose from. Students at these schools can study areas like engineering, business, philosophy, religious studies, and law. Indiana offers loan forgiveness programs for health care workers who work in areas with labor shortages as well as for lawyers providing public legal aid. Additionally, graduates of Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law pursuing public interest law can apply for a special grant program that will help cover the cost of preparing and sitting for the bar exam.
With town names like Popcorn and Santa Claus, it is clear Indiana is no stranger to a good time. Along with these unique towns, Indiana also hosts the Indianapolis 500, a long-distance auto race; boasts a thriving art scene; and has been home to iconic celebrities, including Larry Bird, James Dean, and David Letterman. Students wanting to experience all Indiana has to offer while studying have the option of attending one of Indiana’s more than 50 higher education institutes.
Explore Indiana’s more than 50 colleges and universities to find a program and future career path that’s right for you.
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Related: Differences between research universities and teaching colleges
A liberal arts college is a school that puts a premium on undergraduate studies and offers a broad range of subjects for students to study. A college of liberal arts typically provides smaller class sizes, more direct engagement with professors, and, most importantly, the opportunity to sample a wide range of subject areas on the way to a bachelor’s degree. We’ve identified a total of 33 liberal arts colleges and universities in Illinois, 20 of which meet our criteria. The list below of the 15 best liberal arts schools in the state satisfies the following four conditions:
The best colleges pound for pound!
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.
Find out more about our ranking methodology here.
Less Tuition + fees
$51K
Acceptance
68%
Graduation
87%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1245/26
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DePauw University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$47K
Acceptance
59%
Graduation
67%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1235/26
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Earlham College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$39K
Acceptance
69%
Graduation
72%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1135/23
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Hanover College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$35K
Acceptance
92%
Graduation
63%
Student body
<1K
Median SAT/ACT
1108/25
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Goshen College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$45K
Acceptance
63%
Graduation
75%
Student body
<1K
Median SAT/ACT
1220/26
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Wabash College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$37K
Acceptance
64%
Graduation
67%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1189/26
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University of Evansville’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$42K
Acceptance
76%
Graduation
82%
Student body
5K
Median SAT/ACT
1240/27
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Butler University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$27K
Acceptance
91%
Graduation
72%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1125/23
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Indiana Wesleyan University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$44K
Acceptance
82%
Graduation
81%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1155/25
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Saint Mary's College ’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$35K
Acceptance
70%
Graduation
78%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1195/25
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Taylor University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$34K
Acceptance
70%
Graduation
56%
Student body
1K
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Manchester University ’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$33K
Acceptance
76%
Graduation
63%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1075/21
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Franklin College ’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$24K
Acceptance
75%
Graduation
68%
Student body
2K
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Grace College & Seminary’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$27K
Acceptance
78%
Graduation
65%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1057/21
View profile
Huntington University ’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$33K
Acceptance
79%
Graduation
61%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1150/24
View profile
Trine University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
What are Custom College Rankings?
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