Four-year public and private nonprofit institutions with the lowest student-to-faculty ratios in the fall of 2016 include a mix of elite institutions, colleges that specialize in the arts, American Indian tribal colleges, public institutions with small enrollments, and Roman Catholic institutions that serve relatively high proportions of students from low-income families. Colleges with the highest student-to-faculty ratios include several that offer courses primarily or exclusively online, and a Talmudical academy of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement. At both public and private nonprofit institutions, tuition and fees tend to be much higher among institutions with the lowest student-to-faculty ratios. Even with their favorable ratios, a few public tribal and Roman Catholic colleges managed to keep tuition and fees relatively moderate.
4-year public institutions
Lowest student-to-faculty ratios
| 1. | U. of North Carolina School of the Arts | 7 | $9,139 |
| 2. | Massachusetts College of Art and Design | 8 | $12,200 |
| 3. | Oglala Lakota College | 9 | $2,684 |
| 4. | Northwest Indian College | 9 | $4,407 |
| 5. | U. of the District of Columbia | 9 | $5,612 |
| 6. | U. of Alaska at Fairbanks | 9 | $5,976 |
| 7. | U. of Alaska-Southeast | 9 | $8,415 |
| 8. | Western New Mexico U. | 10 | $5,906 |
| 9. | Dickinson State U. | 10 | $6,348 |
| 10. | New College of Florida | 10 | $6,916 |
| 11. | St. Mary’s College of Maryland | 10 | $14,192 |
| 12. | Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology | 10 | $16,950 |
| 13. | U. of Cincinnati-Clermont College | 11 | $5,316 |
| 14. | Minot State U. | 11 | $6,568 |
| 15. | West Virginia U. Institute of Technology | 11 | $6,648 |
| 16. | City U. of New York Hunter College | 11 | $6,782 |
| 17. | Texas A&M U. at Texarkana | 11 | $6,840 |
| 18. | New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology | 11 | $6,891 |
| 19. | Valley City State U. | 11 | $7,196 |
| 20. | Arizona State U.-West | 11 | $9,886 |
| 21. | Chicago State U. | 11 | $10,252 |
| 22. | Pennsylvania State U. at DuBois | 11 | $13,616 |
| 23. | Pennsylvania State U.-Greater Allegheny | 11 | $13,666 |
| 24. | Pennsylvania State U. at Mont Alto | 11 | $13,678 |
| 25. | Vermont Technical College | 11 | $14,026 |
| 26. | Virginia Military Institute | 11 | $17,492 |
| 27. | Dine College | 12 | $725 |
| 28. | Colorado Mountain College | 12 | $1,768 |
| 29. | Lake Washington Institute of Technology | 12 | $4,059 |
| 30. | Navajo Technical U. | 12 | $4,070 |
| 31. | Madison Area Technical College | 12 | $4,281 |
| 32. | Green River College | 12 | $4,597 |
| 33. | Miami U. at Middletown (Ohio) | 12 | $5,173 |
| 34. | U. of Alaska at Anchorage | 12 | $5,784 |
| 35. | Sul Ross State U. | 12 | $6,419 |
| 36. | City College of City U. of New York | 12 | $6,689 |
| 37. | U. of Science and Arts of Oklahoma | 12 | $7,200 |
| 38. | Charter Oak State College | 12 | $7,671 |
| 39. | Kentucky State U. | 12 | $7,754 |
| 40. | State U. of New York Polytechnic Institute | 12 | $7,777 |
| 41. | State U. of New York College at Potsdam | 12 | $7,964 |
| 42. | State U. of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry | 12 | $8,103 |
| 43. | U. of West Alabama | 12 | $8,876 |
| 44. | Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts | 12 | $9,875 |
| 45. | Purdue U. at West Lafayette | 12 | $10,002 |
| 46. | Lincoln U. (Pa.) | 12 | $11,102 |
| 47. | Castleton U. | 12 | $11,314 |
| 48. | Cheyney U. of Pennsylvania | 12 | $11,356 |
| 49. | The Citadel | 12 | $11,734 |
| 50. | U. of Minnesota at Morris | 12 | $12,846 |
| 51. | Pennsylvania State U.-Fayette | 12 | $13,616 |
| 51. | Pennsylvania State U.-New Kensington | 12 | $13,616 |
| 53. | U. of Michigan at Ann Arbor | 12 | $14,402 |
| 54. | U. of New Hampshire at Manchester | 12 | $14,495 |
| 55. | Michigan Technological U. | 12 | $14,634 |
| 56. | College of William & Mary | 12 | $21,234 |
Highest student-to-faculty ratios
| 681. | Shasta College | 31 | $1,183 |
| 682. | Rio Hondo College | 31 | $1,360 |
| 683. | Florida SouthWestern State College | 31 | $3,401 |
| 684. | Bakersfield College | 32 | $1,326 |
| 685. | Santa Ana College | 35 | $1,142 |
| 686. | U. of Florida-Online | 49 | $3,876 |
| | Median for 686 public institutions | 17 | $7,747 |
•••
4-year private nonprofit institutions
Lowest student-to-faculty ratios
| 1. | California Institute of Technology | 3 | $47,577 |
| 2. | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 3 | $48,452 |
| 3. | Juilliard School | 5 | $41,310 |
| 4. | Otis College of Art and Design | 5 | $44,020 |
| 5. | Princeton U. | 5 | $45,320 |
| 6. | Marygrove College | 6 | $22,064 |
| 7. | Holy Names U. | 6 | $37,074 |
| 8. | Rice U. | 6 | $43,918 |
| 9. | Yale U. | 6 | $49,480 |
| 10. | U. of Pennsylvania | 6 | $51,464 |
| 11. | Williams College | 6 | $51,790 |
| 12. | U. of Chicago | 6 | $53,649 |
| 13. | Columbia U. | 6 | $55,056 |
| 14. | Mercy College of Ohio | 7 | $13,430 |
| 15. | Gallaudet U. | 7 | $16,078 |
| 16. | Heritage U. (Wash.) | 7 | $19,122 |
| 17. | Baker U. | 7 | $28,030 |
| 18. | Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College | 7 | $28,932 |
| 19. | Ursuline College | 7 | $29,940 |
| 20. | Notre Dame of Maryland U. | 7 | $35,019 |
| 21. | Simmons College | 7 | $38,590 |
| 22. | Catholic U. of America | 7 | $42,536 |
| 23. | California Institute of the Arts | 7 | $45,646 |
| 24. | Harvard U. | 7 | $47,074 |
| 25. | Wellesley College | 7 | $48,802 |
| 26. | Pomona College | 7 | $49,352 |
| 27. | Northwestern U. | 7 | $50,855 |
| 28. | Duke U. | 7 | $51,265 |
| 29. | Brown U. | 7 | $51,366 |
| 30. | Dartmouth College | 7 | $51,438 |
Highest student-to-faculty ratios
| 936. | Central Yeshiva Tomchei Tmimim Lubavitch America | 30 | $6,700 |
| 937. | Southern New Hampshire U. | 30 | $31,136 |
| 938. | Bellevue U. | 31 | $7,365 |
| 939. | Indiana Tech | 31 | $26,370 |
| 940. | Columbia College (Mo.) | 33 | $20,936 |
| 941. | Western Governors U. | 41 | $6,070 |
| 942. | Regent U. | 41 | $16,438 |
| | Median for 942 private nonprofit institutions | 12 | $30,746 |
Note: Institutions are ranked first in order of lowest to highest student-to-faculty ratios for the fall of 2016, and then in order of lowest to highest published tuition and fees for 2016-17. Tied institutions are listed alphabetically. Student-to-faculty ratio is the total number of full-time-equivalent undergraduates divided by the total number of full-time-equivalent instructional staff members who are not teaching in graduate or professional programs. Tuition and fees are the published amount for the full 2016-17 academic year and represent the in-district or in-state total for institutions that charge higher tuition and fees to nonresidents. The total amounts do not include housing costs or take into account the lower cost of attendance for some students after grants and other student aid are considered. Colleges with fewer than 500 full-time-equivalent students in 2015-16 were excluded from the analysis. Questions or comments on the Chronicle List should be sent to Ruth Hammond.
Source: Chronicle analysis of U.S. Department of Education data
