Skip to content
Best College Rankings

By experience

What are the best small colleges for STEM?

Compare these side by side

The short answer

Every institution here has fewer than 8,000 undergraduates, but they are small in two different ways. MIT (4,535 undergraduates, 3:1), Carnegie Mellon and Rice are small research universities: extraordinary faculty access, and an intensity that rarely feels small. Grove City (2,216), Spelman and WPI are genuinely small colleges where you will know your cohort, and Colorado School of Mines sits between the two at 6,155 undergraduates with the strongest earnings-to-selectivity trade in this dataset. Decide which of those two experiences you want first, then choose within it.

The list

  1. 1

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    Cambridge, MA · Private nonprofit · 4,535 undergraduates

    Undergrads / ratio

    4,535 / 3:1

    A 3:1 student-faculty ratio is the best in this dataset, and the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program puts most undergraduates in a working lab. Small in numbers, immense in intensity.

    Acceptance rate
    4.5%
    Average net price
    $20,111
    Median earnings (10 yr)
    $143,372
    6-yr graduation rate
    96.4%
    Median federal debt
    $14,768
  2. 2

    Carnegie Mellon University

    Pittsburgh, PA · Private nonprofit · 7,304 undergraduates

    Undergrads / ratio

    7,304 / 5:1

    At the upper bound of 'small' with 7,304 undergraduates, but a 5:1 ratio, the #1 computer science school and the world's largest university robotics institute. Aid is weaker than similarly ranked peers, at a $31,944 net price.

    Acceptance rate
    11.7%
    Average net price
    $31,944
    Median earnings (10 yr)
    $114,862
    6-yr graduation rate
    94.1%
    Median federal debt
    $21,750
  3. 3

    Rice University

    Houston, TX · Private nonprofit · 4,776 undergraduates

    Undergrads / ratio

    4,776 / 6:1

    Research-university resources at liberal arts scale, plus a residential college system that has repeatedly produced #1 national quality-of-life rankings. Across the street from the Texas Medical Center.

    Acceptance rate
    8.0%
    Average net price
    $13,370
    Median earnings (10 yr)
    $89,718
    6-yr graduation rate
    94.6%
    Median federal debt
    $11,000
  4. 4

    Spelman College

    Atlanta, GA · Private nonprofit · 3,414 undergraduates

    Undergrads / ratio

    3,414 / 11:1

    A leading producer of Black women who earn STEM doctorates, at 3,414 undergraduates and a 11:1 ratio. Atlanta University Center cross-registration offsets the limits of a small course catalogue.

    Acceptance rate
    24.9%
    Average net price
    $38,967
    Median earnings (10 yr)
    $59,993
    6-yr graduation rate
    78.5%
    Median federal debt
    $25,000
  5. 5

    Grove City College

    Grove City, PA · Private nonprofit · 2,216 undergraduates

    Undergrads / ratio

    2,216 / 13:1

    The smallest institution here at 2,216 undergraduates, with ABET-accredited mechanical and electrical engineering and a computer science department — an unusual combination at this scale. A 83.2% six-year graduation rate and 88.3% first-year retention. Note that it takes no federal student aid, so no net price, earnings or debt figure exists for it.

    Acceptance rate
    72.3%
    Average net price
    Not reported
    Median earnings (10 yr)
    Not reported
    6-yr graduation rate
    83.2%
    Median federal debt
    Not reported
  6. 6

    Worcester Polytechnic Institute

    Worcester, MA · Private nonprofit · 5,447 undergraduates

    Undergrads / ratio

    5,447 / 13:1

    Three required major projects including one for an external sponsor, roughly half completed at global project centres. Test-blind, and no failing grades appear on transcripts.

    Acceptance rate
    60.2%
    Average net price
    $43,071
    Median earnings (10 yr)
    $103,470
    6-yr graduation rate
    89.7%
    Median federal debt
    $27,000
  7. 7

    Colorado School of Mines

    Golden, CO · Public · 6,155 undergraduates

    Undergrads / ratio

    6,155 / 17:1

    Median earnings of $97,335 from a 6,155-student public engineering school admitting 60.7% of applicants. World #1 in mining, petroleum and geological engineering. The 17:1 ratio is the largest here, which is the cost of the price.

    Acceptance rate
    60.7%
    Average net price
    $28,690
    Median earnings (10 yr)
    $97,335
    6-yr graduation rate
    81.7%
    Median federal debt
    $23,000

Frequently asked questions

It depends on what limits you. A small college gives you a better student-faculty ratio, earlier and easier access to research, and faculty who know your name — MIT's 3:1 and Rice's 6:1 ratios are structurally different experiences from a lecture hall of three hundred. A large university gives you more course sections, more specialised electives, larger research budgets and more room to change direction. If you are certain of your field and want mentorship, go small; if you are exploring, size helps.

Often more easily than at a large one, because there is less graduate-student competition for lab positions. At MIT the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program places the large majority of undergraduates in research; at WPI the Major Qualifying Project requires professional-level work in your field; at Rice, proximity to the Texas Medical Center opens clinical research to undergraduates. The constraint at small schools is breadth of available topics, not access.

Yes, and ABET accreditation is how you check rather than taking a brochure's word for it. Grove City College has 2,216 undergraduates and still runs ABET-accredited mechanical and electrical engineering; WPI has 5,447 and is one of the strongest engineering schools in the country. What a small program cannot give you is breadth — a handful of disciplines rather than fifteen, and fewer specialised electives within each. If you already know you want nuclear or petroleum engineering, that narrowness is decisive; if you want to build things and are not sure what yet, it rarely is.

How this list was ordered

Student–faculty ratio from IPEDS, lowest first, restricted to institutions with fewer than 8,000 undergraduates where engineering, computing or the natural sciences are a substantial share of the degrees awarded. Undergraduate enrolment breaks ties, smaller first.

Inclusion criteria

  • Fewer than 8,000 undergraduates.
  • Student-faculty ratio of 18:1 or better.
  • Engineering, computing or the natural sciences a substantial share of degrees awarded.
  • Undergraduate research or project work available as a standard rather than exceptional experience.
7 schools comparedUpdated September 1, 2026