This Vermont school was named among the best small colleges in US

A Vermont school was ranked among the top 10 small colleges in the U.S. by Forbes.

For this year’s rankings, Forbes said it considered private non-profit colleges with fewer than 4,000 undergraduate students. These institutions “deliver great outcomes and unusually close access to professors,” but some are strained by financial pressures, it said.

The business magazine said it applied the outcomes-based methodology used for its 2027 Top 500 Colleges ranking, which emphasizes graduation rates, alumni earnings, student debt, and leadership outcomes instead of reputation or selectivity.

However, these “small” colleges aren’t necessarily the least expensive. The full cost of attendance at some of the top 10 schools hovers around $100,000 a year, Forbes said.

The California Institute of Technology, or “Caltech,” is Forbes’ No. 1 small college, and No. 7 on Forbes’ Top 500 Colleges altogether. The school has an undergraduate student population of 987 and a total annual cost of $90,822.

Check out which Vermont school Forbes considers one of the top small colleges in the nation.

Vermont school makes Forbes’ top 10 small colleges list

Middlebury College, located in Middlebury, Vermont, placed No. 9 on Forbes’ Top 50 Small Colleges list for 2027. The school has an undergraduate student population of 2,760 and a total student population of 2,803.

The private college has an 11% acceptance rate, according to Forbes. Accepted students typically have SAT scores between 1445 and 1550, or ACT scores between 33 and 35.

The total annual cost is roughly $88,850, with an average of $59,647 in grant aid. The median alumni salary for a worker with 10 years of experience is $113,413, the publication said.

Middlebury College also ranked No. 47 overall on Forbes’ Top 500 Colleges ranking this year.

Forbes’ top 10 small colleges nationwide

Here are the top 10 schools overall on Forbes’ Top 50 Small Colleges list for 2027:

1. California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, California)

   • Undergraduate population: 987

2. Williams College (Williamstown, Massachusetts)

   • Undergraduate population: 2,115

3. Bowdoin College (Brunswick, Maine)

   • Undergraduate population: 1,881

4. Pomona College (Claremont, California)

   • Undergraduate population: 1,700

5. Amherst College (Amherst, Massachusetts)

   • Undergraduate population: 1,914

6. Claremont McKenna College (Claremont, California)

   • Undergraduate population: 1,390

7. Wellesley College (Wellesley, Massachusetts)

   • Undergraduate population: 2,407

8. Washington and Lee University (Lexington, Virginia)

   • Undergraduate population: 1,886

9. Middlebury College (Middlebury, Vermont)

   • Undergraduate population: 2,760

10. Colgate University (Hamilton, New York)

    • Undergraduate population: 3,193

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: This Vermont school was named among the best small colleges in US