Is a research university right for me?–

Research universities are colleges and universities whose faculty are active in research and publishing. Research universities offer a wide array of doctoral programs, especially in the sciences. They tend to be big, with tens of thousands of students. Do you prefer a larger university setting, such as largest public university in your state? Research universities are typically big, offering degrees in many different disciplines. Is a big high-powered research environment the thing for you. If not, you should think about a liberal arts college. In deciding on an undergraduate institution, ask yourself what sort of environment will best help you to be happy and excel. Consider whether you are self motivated enough to be a face in the crowd for some classes and largely unknown on campus at a large university. Of course you can find clubs and friends at a large university, but often liberal arts colleges have a more personal quality to them. If you want the community feel, a research university may not fit you well. Are you interested in STEM fields? Research universities have that name for a reason – real research is happening there. This can create an exciting atmosphere for students interested in STEM. Attending a research university can give you a better chance of getting into better programs for graduate degrees, although a lot of that depends on your performance.

Is a liberal arts college right for me?–

Often referred to as “teaching colleges” liberal arts colleges put 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. Do you want your professors to know you? Liberal arts colleges strive to cultivate campus cultures that encourage tight bonds between professors and students. Professors at these schools will typically conduct original research. Yet the best of these schools offer their faculty reduced teaching loads so that they can both be productive researchers and still have plenty of time for students (both in and outside the classroom). Do you want to feel like you know everybody? One of the most enticing features of a liberal arts college is that in very little time, you can feel like you know who’s who, which can create strong friendships, but also more pleasurable walks across campus. While your sports teams may never be on ESPN, it’s more likely that you’ll know the athletes as your peers. Beyond student and faculty relationships, it’s not unusual for the school president and other administrators to learn who you are. When faced with problems with your student account or the need to switch classes, this can be comforting during a stressful moment.

Is an online college right for me?–

Online colleges are typically the same colleges and universities you could attend in-person, but for certain degree programs the college or unviersity has made the degree programs available to be completed online. For over 5 million students, online degree programs allow students to earn their degrees in the most flexible format available. Online degrees are as respected as the on-campus degress you could earn from the same schools. There’s usually no disctinction between the two degrees, and your degree and transcript will not say that the degree was earned online. Online degree programs are offered by a vast majority of colleges and universities, and the number of offering continues to grow. Whehter you are searching for an associate, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctorate, there’s a good chance you can earn your degree online from a respectable online college. Are you a self-driven student? Perhaps the hardest aspect of obtaining an online degree is whether you will be disciplined enough to manage your time and course demands. Many online students report that online college made them more disciplined in all areas of their lives, but the flexible, self-paced learning that makes online colleges attractive can often be the same qualities that make it difficult. If you tend to be a procrastinator, you need to be honest with yourself. You can change your habits and propensities, or you can throw money down the drain. Do you need the flexibility of an online degree program? Most online students study online because of time demands balancing work and life, or becuase the online colleges afford them the chance to attend a better school without moving. If you are serious about earning your degree for career advancement, online colleges make it possible. The most flexible options among online degrees are those that are aynchronous, meaning you don’t have scheduled times to meet with your class online. However, many students seek synchronous online degree programs so that they have some structure – set meeting times, scheduled exams, etc. The good news is that attending an online college doesn’t mean you will miss out on getting to know your professors and classmates. In fact, many online students who have experienced both online and on-campus courses report having easier access to their professors. Since most communication with your professor is expected to be in text – via email or your class learning management system – it makes asking your questions easier. The same students also report that they got to better know the thoughts of their classmates. While in-person course conversations can be dominated by a few extroverts, online courses that require online discussions make it so that you see all of your classmates’ thoughts and questions. If you’re interested in an online bachelor’s degree, check out what the best online colleges offer, or search our online degrees for the exact program that interests you. In either case, you will find, well respected colleges and universities that offer online degrees.

Best Liberal Arts Colleges in Missouri 2024

By James Barham

Published: Apr 13, 2021
Updated: Oct 26, 2023

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 Missouri offer a diverse selection of degree programs with opportunities for a highly individualized educational experience.

Key Takeaways

The best liberal arts colleges in Missouri feature smaller class sizes and more direct engagement with professors.
Missouri’s best liberal arts colleges offer a broad mix of course offerings so that students have exposure to a wide range of subject offerings.

10 Best Liberal Arts Colleges in Missouri

Southeast Missouri State University
Webster University
Truman State University
Drury University
Park University
University of Central Missouri
William Jewell College
Rockhurst University
Northwest Missouri State University
Central Methodist University

Central Methodist University 99%
Missouri Southern State University 97%
Westminster College, Missouri 97%
Southwest Baptist University 96%
Culver–Stockton College 93%
Northwest Missouri State University 86%
Southeast Missouri State University 79%
Fontbonne University 78%
University of Central Missouri 76%
Avila University 68%

Columbia College 23 to 1
Northwest Missouri State University 19 to 1
Southeast Missouri State University 19 to 1
Missouri Baptist University 18 to 1
Missouri Southern State University 17 to 1
Missouri Western State University 16 to 1
Evangel University 16 to 1
Park University 15 to 1
University of Central Missouri 15 to 1
College of the Ozarks 15 to 1

Rockhurst University $40,480
Drury University $32,430
Westminster College, Missouri $32,124
Missouri Baptist University $30,548
Webster University $28,700
Culver–Stockton College $28,495
Fontbonne University $28,200
Central Methodist University $26,470
Southwest Baptist University $26,128
Evangel University $25,748

Rockhurst University $16,524
Hannibal–LaGrange University $14,250
Fontbonne University $13,950
Webster University $13,500
Missouri Baptist University $10,670
Truman State University $9,600
Stephens College $8,730
Avila University $8,598
Columbia College $8,442
Evangel University $8,388

Ranken Technical College
Hannibal–LaGrange University
Missouri Baptist University
Culver–Stockton College
Missouri Valley College
Cottey College
Fontbonne University
College of the Ozarks
Avila University
Harris–Stowe State University

College of the Ozarks 21%
William Jewell College 47%
Webster University 59%
Cottey College 61%
Truman State University 61%
Missouri Baptist University 62%
Stephens College 64%
Evangel University 64%
Hannibal–LaGrange University 65%
Drury University 65%

Cottey College 6 to 1
Fontbonne University 10 to 1
Hannibal–LaGrange University 10 to 1
Westminster College, Missouri 10 to 1
William Jewell College 10 to 1
Stephens College 11 to 1
Central Methodist University 12 to 1
Webster University 12 to 1
Avila University 12 to 1
Ranken Technical College 12 to 1

Harris–Stowe State University $5,424
Northwest Missouri State University $5,461
Lincoln University, Missouri $6,720
Missouri Western State University $6,900
Southeast Missouri State University $7,461
University of Central Missouri $7,758
Missouri Southern State University $7,762
Truman State University $8,365
Park University $12,280
Ranken Technical College $16,259

Missouri Valley College $3,600
William Jewell College $4,800
Southwest Baptist University $5,004
Lincoln University, Missouri $5,608
Southeast Missouri State University $5,858
Culver–Stockton College $6,000
Missouri Southern State University $6,300
Northwest Missouri State University $6,301
Park University $6,435
Missouri Western State University $6,840

Table of Contents

Colleges and Universities in Missouri

Tuition costs in Missouri fall below the national average, allowing students access to many affordable options. For example, at Missouri State University, the second largest public school, tuition fees are around $7,000. Students of actor John Goodman’s alma mater can major in fields like religious studies, history, and business, and even have the option of earning an associate degree in arts or a bachelor’s in business at the university’s sister school in China. Missouri also offers more than 40 private schools.

Find college admissions consultants in your state.

Tuition and student populations vary greatly among these schools, but students who attend these higher education institutes also have the option to attend classes at other campuses. For example, Saint Louis University, a college with Jesuit roots, has campuses in both St. Louis and Madrid, Spain. Additionally, Missouri offers special loan forgiveness programs for nurses and other health professionals, including dentists, psychiatrists, and primary care physicians, who work in designated, high-need areas.

When you aren’t exploring one of its 6,000 caves, chowing down on some barbecue, or taking in a live jazz performance, Missouri can serve as the perfect place to begin a road trip. The Show Me State is bordered by eight other U.S. states, making it ideal for students love travelling and planning weekend getaways. During the week days, students can continue on their road to success by pursuing their degree at one of Missouri’s 72 higher education institutes.

See where Missouri’s many roads can take you while earning your degree at one this state’s top learning institutions.

What are Missouri’s Colleges & Universities?

Missouri’s Best Overall

How do we determine Missouri's best liberal arts colleges ?

Methodology

The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great! 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 in their fields of study.

Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Concentrated Influence provides a ranking that is freer from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.

To rank the influence of schools, we first determine the influence of scholars and professionals based on the number of citations and publications they have had over the past 10 years. In addition to publications and citations, we consider the web links to and from these sources, and the page views of those sources. We then match the influential people to their alma maters and institutions of employment, so that their influence is attributed to those schools. Our machine-learning Influence Ranking algorithm produces a numerical score of academic achievements, merits, and citations across Wikipedia, wikidata, Crossref, Semantic Scholar and an ever-growing body of data. If you are interested in exploring how and why we rank by influence, explore our methodology in more depth.

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 Best Liberal Arts Colleges in Missouri 2023

Build your own college rankings

Missouri’s Best Liberal Arts Colleges in Your Area of Interest

Frequently Asked Questions About Research Universities, Liberal Arts Colleges, Online Colleges

In pursuing a bachelor’s degree, you will need to choose between three kinds of schools: research universities, liberal arts colleges, and online colleges.

Research universities are colleges and universities whose faculty are active in research and publishing. Research universities offer a wide array of doctoral programs, especially in the sciences. They tend to be big, with tens of thousands of students.

Do you prefer a larger university setting, such as largest public university in your state? Research universities are typically big, offering degrees in many different disciplines. Is a big high-powered research environment the thing for you. If not, you should think about a liberal arts college. In deciding on an undergraduate institution, ask yourself what sort of environment will best help you to be happy and excel.

Consider whether you are self motivated enough to be a face in the crowd for some classes and largely unknown on campus at a large university. Of course you can find clubs and friends at a large university, but often liberal arts colleges have a more personal quality to them. If you want the community feel, a research university may not fit you well.
Are you interested in STEM fields? Research universities have that name for a reason – real research is happening there. This can create an exciting atmosphere for students interested in STEM. Attending a research university can give you a better chance of getting into better programs for graduate degrees, although a lot of that depends on your performance.

Learn more about research universities by reading about the best research universities in the US.

Often referred to as “teaching colleges” liberal arts colleges put 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.

Do you want your professors to know you? Liberal arts colleges strive to cultivate campus cultures that encourage tight bonds between professors and students. Professors at these schools will typically conduct original research. Yet the best of these schools offer their faculty reduced teaching loads so that they can both be productive researchers and still have plenty of time for students (both in and outside the classroom).
Do you want to feel like you know everybody? One of the most enticing features of a liberal arts college is that in very little time, you can feel like you know who’s who, which can create strong friendships, but also more pleasurable walks across campus. While your sports teams may never be on ESPN, it’s more likely that you’ll know the athletes as your peers. Beyond student and faculty relationships, it’s not unusual for the school president and other administrators to learn who you are. When faced with problems with your student account or the need to switch classes, this can be comforting during a stressful moment.

Learn more about liberal arts colleges by reading about the best liberal arts colleges in the US.

Online colleges are typically the same colleges and universities you could attend in-person, but for certain degree programs the college or unviersity has made the degree programs available to be completed online. For over 5 million students, online degree programs allow students to earn their degrees in the most flexible format available. Online degrees are as respected as the on-campus degress you could earn from the same schools. There’s usually no disctinction between the two degrees, and your degree and transcript will not say that the degree was earned online. Online degree programs are offered by a vast majority of colleges and universities, and the number of offering continues to grow. Whehter you are searching for an associate, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctorate, there’s a good chance you can earn your degree online from a respectable online college.

Are you a self-driven student? Perhaps the hardest aspect of obtaining an online degree is whether you will be disciplined enough to manage your time and course demands. Many online students report that online college made them more disciplined in all areas of their lives, but the flexible, self-paced learning that makes online colleges attractive can often be the same qualities that make it difficult. If you tend to be a procrastinator, you need to be honest with yourself. You can change your habits and propensities, or you can throw money down the drain.
Do you need the flexibility of an online degree program? Most online students study online because of time demands balancing work and life, or becuase the online colleges afford them the chance to attend a better school without moving. If you are serious about earning your degree for career advancement, online colleges make it possible. The most flexible options among online degrees are those that are aynchronous, meaning you don’t have scheduled times to meet with your class online. However, many students seek synchronous online degree programs so that they have some structure – set meeting times, scheduled exams, etc.
The good news is that attending an online college doesn’t mean you will miss out on getting to know your professors and classmates. In fact, many online students who have experienced both online and on-campus courses report having easier access to their professors. Since most communication with your professor is expected to be in text – via email or your class learning management system – it makes asking your questions easier. The same students also report that they got to better know the thoughts of their classmates. While in-person course conversations can be dominated by a few extroverts, online courses that require online discussions make it so that you see all of your classmates’ thoughts and questions.

If you’re interested in an online bachelor’s degree, check out what the best online colleges offer, or search our online degrees for the exact program that interests you. In either case, you will find well respected colleges and universities that offer online degrees.

2021 Ranking Archive

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.

Check out our directory of liberal arts colleges throughout the U.S. for a look at the top liberal arts schools in every state.

Do you have a question about this topic? Ask it here

Best Liberal Arts Colleges in Missouri 2024

Key Takeaways

10 Best Liberal Arts Colleges in Missouri

Colleges and Universities in Missouri

What are Missouri’s Colleges & Universities?

Career Outlook for degree at Webster University

Most Influential Alumni

Webster University’s Online Degrees

Degree Concentrations

Degree Concentrations

Career Outlook for degree at Truman State University

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at Northwest Missouri State University

Most Influential Alumni

Northwest Missouri State University’s Online Degrees

Degree Concentrations

Degree Concentrations

Degree Concentrations

Career Outlook for degree at University of Central Missouri

Most Influential Alumni

University of Central Missouri’s Online Degrees

Degree Concentrations

Degree Concentrations

Career Outlook for degree at William Jewell College

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at Southeast Missouri State University

Most Influential Alumni

Southeast Missouri State University’s Online Degrees

Degree Concentrations

Degree Concentrations

Degree Concentrations

Degree Concentrations

Degree Concentrations

Degree Concentrations

Career Outlook for degree at Evangel University

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at Rockhurst University

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at Drury University

Most Influential Alumni

Drury University’s Online Degrees

Career Outlook for degree at Stephens College

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at Park University

Most Influential Alumni

Park University’s Online Degrees

Degree Concentrations

Degree Concentrations

Degree Concentrations

Degree Concentrations

Degree Concentrations

Degree Concentrations

Career Outlook for degree at Central Methodist University

Most Influential Alumni

Central Methodist University’s Online Degrees

Degree Concentrations

Degree Concentrations

Career Outlook for degree at Fontbonne University

Most Influential Alumni

Fontbonne University’s Online Degrees

Degree Concentrations

Career Outlook for degree at Missouri Western State University

Most Influential Alumni

Missouri Western State University’s Online Degrees

Degree Concentrations

Career Outlook for degree at Missouri Southern State University

Most Influential Alumni

Missouri Southern State University’s Online Degrees

Degree Concentrations

Degree Concentrations

Career Outlook for degree at Southwest Baptist University

Most Influential Alumni

Southwest Baptist University’s Online Degrees

Career Outlook for degree at Lincoln University, Missouri

Most Influential Alumni

Lincoln University, Missouri’s Online Degrees

Career Outlook for degree at Avila University

Most Influential Alumni

Avila University’s Online Degrees

Career Outlook for degree at Westminster College, Missouri