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2024 Best Liberal Arts Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region

113 Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region
20,848 Liberal Studies Degrees Awarded
If you pursue a degree in liberal arts, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #2 most popular program in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

College Factual looked at 113 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Liberal Arts Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 20,848 degrees in liberal arts during the 2021-2022 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Liberal Arts School

Best Liberal Arts Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region The liberal studies program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Liberal Arts rankings. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for liberal arts schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Liberal Arts Rankings by Degree Level

Associate Degrees in Liberal Studies
Bachelor's Degrees in Liberal Studies
Master's Degrees in Liberal Studies
Doctor's Degrees in Liberal Studies

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Liberal Arts Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision. You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.

In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.

More information on how we come up with our rankings can be found here: College Factual's Data Methodology.

Best Schools for Liberal Arts in the Middle Atlantic Region

Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the liberal studies degree levels they offer. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

17 Top Middle Atlantic Region Schools in Liberal Studies

1
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
26th Most Popular In PA
44 Liberal Studies Degrees Awarded

Any student who is interested in liberal arts has to check out University of Pennsylvania. Located in the city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #4 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UPenn is a great university overall.

There were approximately 44 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at UPenn in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in liberal arts from University of Pennsylvania

2
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
16th Most Popular In MD
58 Liberal Studies Degrees Awarded

It's hard to beat Johns Hopkins University if you want to pursue a degree in liberal arts. Johns Hopkins is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Baltimore. A Best Colleges rank of #23 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Johns Hopkins is a great university overall.

There were approximately 58 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at Johns Hopkins in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in liberal arts from Johns Hopkins University

3
Georgetown crest
Georgetown University
Washington, DC
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In DC
38 Liberal Studies Degrees Awarded

It is hard to beat Georgetown University if you want to pursue a degree in liberal arts. Located in the city of Washington, Georgetown is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #15 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Georgetown is a great university overall.

There were approximately 38 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at Georgetown in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in liberal arts from Georgetown University

4
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
5th Most Popular In NY
594 Liberal Studies Degrees Awarded

It's hard to beat New York University if you want to pursue a degree in liberal arts. Located in the large city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #27 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means NYU is a great university overall.

There were roughly 594 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at NYU in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in liberal arts from New York University

5
Drexel crest
Drexel University
Philadelphia, PA
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
14th Most Popular In PA
43 Liberal Studies Degrees Awarded

Located in the large city of Philadelphia, Drexel is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #125 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Drexel is a great university overall.

There were about 43 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at Drexel in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in liberal arts from Drexel University

6
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
21st Most Popular In PA

Located in the suburb of Villanova, Villanova is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #70 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Villanova is a great university overall.

There were about 22 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at Villanova in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in liberal arts from Villanova University

7
Montgomery College crest
Montgomery College
Rockville, MD
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
3rd Most Popular In MD
262 Liberal Studies Degrees Awarded

Montgomery College is a fairly large public college located in the city of Rockville. A Best Colleges rank of #214 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Montgomery College is a great college overall.

There were about 262 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at Montgomery College in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in liberal arts from Montgomery College

8
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In NY
1,422 Liberal Studies Degrees Awarded

Located in the city of Albany, Excelsior University is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. This university ranks 24th out of 142 schools for overall quality in the state of New York.

There were roughly 1422 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at Excelsior University in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in liberal arts from Excelsior University

9
SUNY Stony Brook crest
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
18th Most Popular In NY
53 Liberal Studies Degrees Awarded

Located in the suburb of Stony Brook, SUNY Stony Brook is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #253 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means SUNY Stony Brook is a great university overall.

There were approximately 53 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at SUNY Stony Brook in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in liberal arts from Stony Brook University

10
St. John's Annapolis crest
St John's College
Annapolis, MD
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
9th Most Popular In MD
139 Liberal Studies Degrees Awarded

Located in the large suburb of Annapolis, St. John's Annapolis is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population. A Best Colleges rank of #201 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means St. John's Annapolis is a great college overall.

There were roughly 139 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at St. John's Annapolis in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in liberal arts from St John’s College

11
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
23rd Most Popular In PA

St. Joe's is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Philadelphia. A Best Colleges rank of #157 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means St. Joe's is a great university overall.

There were roughly 19 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at St. Joe's in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in liberal arts from Saint Joseph’s University

12
Graduate Certificate Highest Degree Type
31st Most Popular In PA
6.3% Growth in Graduates

Located in the large city of Pittsburgh, Pitt is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #79 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Pitt is a great university overall.

There were approximately 16 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at Pitt in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in liberal arts from University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus

13
Seton Hall crest
Seton Hall University
South Orange, NJ
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
27th Most Popular In NJ

Seton Hall is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of South Orange. This university ranks 10th out of 44 colleges for overall quality in the state of New Jersey.

There were about 10 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at Seton Hall in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in liberal arts from Seton Hall University

14
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In MD
188 Liberal Studies Degrees Awarded

Located in the medium-sized city of Columbia, HCC is a public college with a medium-sized student population. This college ranks 7th out of 36 schools for overall quality in the state of Maryland.

There were about 188 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at HCC in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in liberal arts from Howard Community College

15
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In NJ
449 Liberal Studies Degrees Awarded

Located in the small city of Trenton, TESU is a public university with a moderately-sized student population. This university ranks 9th out of 44 colleges for overall quality in the state of New Jersey.

There were about 449 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at TESU in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in liberal arts from Thomas Edison State University

16
Rowan crest
Rowan University
Glassboro, NJ
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
18th Most Popular In NJ
100 Liberal Studies Degrees Awarded

Located in the suburb of Glassboro, Rowan is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 7th out of 44 schools for overall quality in the state of New Jersey.

There were approximately 100 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at Rowan in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in liberal arts from Rowan University

16
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
48th Most Popular In NY

RIT is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Rochester. This school ranks 22nd out of 142 schools for overall quality in the state of New York.

There were about 5 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at RIT in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in liberal arts from Rochester Institute of Technology

Additional Noteworthy Schools

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Liberal Arts Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region award.

RankCollegeLocation
17Frederick Community CollegeFrederick, MD
18University of DelawareNewark, DE
19Bergen Community CollegeParamus, NJ
20Anne Arundel Community CollegeArnold, MD
21Suffolk County Community CollegeSelden, NY
22Washington CollegeChestertown, MD
22Borough of Manhattan Community CollegeNew York, NY
23Rider UniversityLawrenceville, NJ
24The Graduate Center, CUNYNew York, NY
25Community College of Baltimore CountyBaltimore, MD

Best Liberal Arts Colleges by State

Explore the best liberal arts schools for a specific state in the Middle Atlantic Region .

StateCollegesDegrees Awarded
New York1,02610,057
Pennsylvania9782,195
Maryland6182,302
New Jersey6148,232
District of Columbia441107
Delaware345148

View All Rankings >

One of 3 majors within the Liberal Arts General Studies area of study, Liberal Arts has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related MajorAnnual Graduates
General Studies7,436
Individualized Studies7,175
Humanities3,200

View All Liberal Studies Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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