Small colleges in Indiana 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.
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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The following list of the best small colleges and universities in Indiana is composed mainly of four-year undergraduate schools (though a handful also offer graduate programs). There are 32 small colleges in Indiana; 20 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.
Find out more about our ranking methodology here.
Less Tuition + fees
$53K
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
$48K
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
$40K
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
$46K
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
$43K
Acceptance
87%
Graduation
65%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1180/25
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Valparaiso University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$39K
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
$43K
Acceptance
76%
Graduation
82%
Student body
6K
Median SAT/ACT
1240/27
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Butler University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$28K
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
$46K
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
$37K
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
$34K
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
$23K
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
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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
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Trine University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$36K
Acceptance
64%
Graduation
60%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1075/21
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Marian University ’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$32K
Acceptance
99%
Graduation
51%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1059/21
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University of Saint Francis ’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$32K
Acceptance
67%
Graduation
64%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1080/22
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Anderson University ’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$10K
Graduation
22%
Student body
46K
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Purdue University Global’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
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