35 Best Student to Faculty Ratio Colleges for 2025

Updated: February 12th, 2025

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

By: Tyson Schritter & Colleges of Distinction Staff

Jump to:    35 Best Student-Faculty Ratio Colleges   |   10 Best Student-Faculty Ratio Private Colleges    |   10 Best Student-Faculty Ratio Public Colleges   |   5 Best Student-Faculty Ratio HBCUs

What Is a Student to Faculty Ratio?

A common statistic you’ll find during your college search is the “student to faculty ratio.” Anywhere you look, you’ll see that people tend to agree that it is important to pay attention to. But what does it even mean?

Simply put, an institution’s student to faculty ratio (or student-faculty ratio) is the number of students there are for every one professor at a given institution. It is calculated by dividing a school’s number of enrolled students by its number of teachers. For example, a school with 5,000 students and 500 professors has 10 students for every professor (i.e. a 10:1 ratio). 

For reference, the National Center for Education Statistics found that the national average for college student-to-faculty ratios is 18:1.

How Important Is This Number to My College Search?

It is often said that a small student-faculty ratio is best, and understandably: when there are fewer students per professor, classes can be smaller, and every student is more likely to benefit from personalized attention.

All said, a school with a larger ratio does not always guarantee that students get lost in a sea of thousands of students. Colleges with larger populations do have more students per professor, but they can—and often do—make up for it with more robust resources on campus. A low student-faculty ratio has become synonymous with better, more personalized pedagogy, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to get the same from a larger university, just a bit less likely. Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide how important this number is to you.

35 Best Student to Faculty Ratio Colleges

More Amazing Colleges >>>

You may notice something about our 10 Best Student-Faculty Ratio Colleges; many accept less than 10% of the students that apply. They are nearly impossible for the average student to attend! As a college bound student, you should understand the term “highly rejective college.” Coined by thought-leader Aki Bello, “highly rejective” is another way to refer to hyper-elite colleges with single-digit acceptance rates. And because their student populations are so carefully controlled, these picky colleges are able to brag about their low student-faculty ratios as well. These small ratios are just another way in which these elite schools like to stand out; however, they are so exclusive that they are more often than not inaccessible to the majority of college-bound students.

Not to worry though! We have picked another 25 amazing schools that have strong student-faculty ratios and also pass through our Four Distinctions guidelines. Take a look for yourself and see if there is one or two worth adding to your shortlist!

10 Best Student to Faculty Ratio Private Colleges

If you are looking for the personalized attention of a lower ratio but aren’t part of the measly 4 percent of students that will be admitted to Stanford, don’t worry. We’ve handpicked some amazing schools that offer a world-class education and a small classroom environment. Here are our 10 Best Student-Faculty Ratio Private Colleges:

10 Best Student-Faculty Ratio Public Colleges

Public universities are many students’ first choice, and for good reason! Public universities tend to be more affordable with more diverse academic programs, more research opportunities, and robust athletics. However, with a larger student population comes larger classrooms and, therefore, higher student-faculty ratios. Attending a public university doesn’t have to mean you’ll sacrifice personalized attention from a professor. Here are our 10 Best Student to Faculty Ratio Public Colleges:

5 Best Student-Faculty Ratio HBCUs

Once founded as a solution to legal discrimination in education, HBCUs thrive with a foundation of inclusivity, access, and respect. HBCUs invest in programming aimed at building solidarity and closing the opportunity gap—faculty diversity, alumni networks, internship and research connections, and more. Check out the list of HBCUs with the lowest student-faculty ratios.

At Colleges of Distinction, we firmly believe that the true value of a school lies beyond the numbers. That’s why we hand-pick and individually review all of our schools to see how they help students learn, grow, and succeed. We believe that a thorough selection process requires so much more than an overview of institutional data and statistics. No matter where you are in your college search journey, Colleges of Distinction can help you find a school that’s the best fit for you.