The following are the top national liberal arts colleges as recently ranked by U.S. News & World Report (schools with the same number rank are tied):

1. Williams College (Mass.)
2. Amherst College (Mass.)
3. Swarthmore College (Pa.)
4. Carleton College (Minn.)
4. Pomona College (Calif.)
4. Wellesley College (Mass.)
7. Davidson College (N.C.)
7. Middlebury College (Vt.)
9. Haverford College (Pa.)
10. Bowdoin College (Maine)
11. Wesleyan University (Conn.)
12. Claremont McKenna College (Calif.)
12. Washington and Lee University (Va.)
14. Vassar College (N.Y.)
15. Grinnell College (Iowa)
15. Smith College (Mass.)
17. Bryn Mawr College (Pa.)
17. Colby College (Maine)
17. Colgate University (N.Y.)
17. Harvey Mudd College (Calif.)
21. Hamilton College (N.Y.)
22. Trinity College (Conn.)
23. Bates College (Maine)
24. Oberlin College (Ohio)
25. Macalester College (Minn.)
25. Mount Holyoke College (Mass.)
27. Bucknell University (Pa.)
27. College of the Holy Cross (Mass.)
27. Colorado College
30. Bard College (N.Y.)