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 Louisiana offer a diverse selection of degree programs with opportunities for a highly individualized educational experience.
Though the culture in Louisiana is sure to draw you in, the affordability of its 26 public colleges and universities also makes it an appealing place to earn your degree. Seven community colleges average $4,000 for tuition, and the cost to attend its public institutions ranges from $5,000 to $12,000. With just shy of 27,000 students, Louisiana State University (LSU) is the largest public university, boasting a tuition rate of $12,000.
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LSU, located in Baton Rouge, offers degrees in engineering, education, theater, and landscape architecture. For those looking to merge their faith with their education, the state also has eight religious institutions, including Catholic, Methodist, and Baptist schools. Prospective students can also attend one of 10 private colleges, including Tulane University and Louisiana Culinary Institute. Tulane University’s tuition rate is $55,000, and it is best known for its medical and law schools. Attorneys in Louisiana who have debt from law school may be eligible to receive $5,000 annually through the Loan Repayment Assistance Program from the Bar Foundation.
Jazz, beignets, and Mardi Gras — the culture, food, and music of Louisiana make it an irresistible place to indulge. This L-shaped state is nicknamed The Pelican State, but the American alligator is also known to roam its lands. Wildlife aside, Louisiana is home to 36 higher education institutions that award associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees.
Louisiana offers a variety of higher education experiences, serving a full range of budgetary needs and career goals. Find out more about earning your degree from one of Louisiana’s colleges or universities.
Related: Differences between research universities and teaching colleges
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.
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 14 liberal arts colleges and universities in Louisiana, 10 of which satisfy our criteria. The list below of the best liberal arts schools in the state satisfies the following four conditions:
Tuition + fees
$19K
Acceptance
65%
Graduation
50%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1050/21
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Dillard University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$18K
Acceptance
71%
Graduation
34%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
985/20
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Louisiana College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$26K
Acceptance
81%
Graduation
50%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1075/23
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Xavier University of Louisiana’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$38K
Acceptance
64%
Graduation
56%
Student body
<1K
Median SAT/ACT
1155/25
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Centenary College of Louisiana’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$8K
Acceptance
97%
Graduation
40%
Student body
11K
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Southeastern Louisiana University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$7K
Acceptance
83%
Graduation
37%
Student body
6K
Median SAT/ACT
1089/22
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Louisiana State University Shreveport’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$8K
Acceptance
63%
Graduation
44%
Student body
6K
Median SAT/ACT
1125/22
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McNeese State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$8K
Acceptance
93%
Graduation
45%
Student body
6K
Median SAT/ACT
1086/22
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Nicholls State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$9K
Acceptance
95%
Graduation
47%
Student body
9K
Median SAT/ACT
1110/21
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Northwestern State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$8K
Acceptance
93%
Graduation
42%
Student body
5K
Median SAT/ACT
985/18
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Grambling State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
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