When going through the college application process, many people aren’t familiar with liberal arts colleges. Typically, schools dedicated to a liberal arts education offer smaller class sizes, which leads to a greater emphasis on student participation and teacher-student interaction. The liberal arts include a wide variety of subjects, from the humanities to the social sciences to the creative arts. For many, the main benefit of receiving a liberal arts education is that it helps develop “employability skills”, such as critical thinking and effective communication through writing and speaking. So, if you’re interested in receiving a liberal arts education, here are the top five liberal arts colleges in our nation!

1. Williams College
Located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, Williams College is ranked #1 in National Liberal Arts Colleges according to the 2018 U.S. News Ranking. For the Class of 2022, the acceptance rate was 12.2%, as admissions are highly selective. Founded in 1793, Williams College is one of the oldest schools in the nation. The college has three academic divisions (humanities, sciences, and social sciences), offering a total of 35 majors. Additionally, parts of its education are modeled after the tutorial system at Oxford University and Cambridge University, giving students a unique learning experience.

2. Amherst College
Like Williams College, Amherst College is also located in Massachusetts. A member of the Five Colleges consortium, Amherst College allows its students to take courses at any of the five colleges, which include Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. For the Class of 2022 acceptance rate was 12.8%, making admissions highly selective. The college offers 36 fields of study and an open curriculum, in which students are not required to follow the core curriculum.

3. Bowdoin College
Located in Brunswick, Maine, Bowdoin College is also another highly selective school, with the Class of 2022 acceptance rate at 10.3%. The college offers 33 majors and joint engineering programs with Columbia University, Dartmouth College, Caltech, and The University of Maine. Bowdoin dining services have also been consistently ranked as one of the best in the nation by The Princeton Review.

4. Swarthmore College
Located near Philadelphia, Swarthmore College is a member of the Tri-College Consortium, offering courses to students at Bryn Mawr College and Haverford College. It also offers an engineering program, unlike many other liberal arts colleges. Additionally, Swarthmore College has an Oxford Cambridge tutorial-inspired Honors Program, in which students take seminars in groups of four to eight students and write their honors theses.

5. Wellesley College
Wellesley College is a women’s liberal arts college located in Wellesley, Massachusetts. It is a member of the Seven Sisters, a name given to seven historical women’s liberal arts colleges, including Barnard College, Bryn Mawr College, and Mount Holyoke College. Additionally, it offers cross-registration with MIT, providing students with a large range of courses.

Attending a liberal arts college can be an enriching experience, with them offering a myriad of diverse learning opportunities to enhance your education. So if you’re looking for a liberal arts education, look into applying to these top colleges!