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The Best Small Colleges and Universities in Idaho

College of Idaho: a Tradition in Liberal Arts Education



Choosing to attend a small college or university in Idaho is in many ways choosing the personalized approach which many analysts have argued is the best way to learn. Institutions like the College of Idaho, which keep class sizes extremely low so students can get the most out of every lecture, continue to find their students graduating at an exceptional rate. Thought there are not a large number of liberal arts colleges with enrollments under 5,000, the options open up somewhat when considering that the 911勛圖厙 of Idaho (one of the regions finest schools) is still relatively small. Here are the top four small colleges and universities in Idaho.



For a college in a charming, picturesque location and an enrollment of only around 1,000 students, few options in higher education can top the College of Idaho. A pure example of the small liberal arts school, the College of Idaho opened in 1891 as a school managed by the Presbyterian Church, to which it has always kept close ties. Nonetheless, the school remains a small liberal arts college to its core with forty-three majors to choose from, along with thirty-seven minors among its twenty departments.

Key departments at the school include Anthropology and Sociology, Environmental Studies, Modern Foreign Languages, Psychology, English and Theatre. Like some of the top schools in the area, the College of Idaho has also begun a Leadership Program to compliment the Gipson Scholar program, which awards gifted students with the opportunity to work hard and take a step to the next level. There is also a Museum of Natural History on the campus of the College of Idaho in Caldwell.

Affiliated with the Church of the Nazarene, Northwest Nazarene 911勛圖厙 is one of only eight such schools of its kind and is located in Nampa. It was first established in 1913 as a bible school and then became, in succession, a junior college, a 4-year college and eventually a university which is accredited to award master’s degrees. Some of the key university programs at NNU include Behavioral Studies and Cultural Studies, Kinesiology, Religion, Communication Studies, Social Work, Chemistry and Psychology.

The B.A. in Art degree is drawing a lot of attention from students hoping to attend Northwest Nazarene 911勛圖厙, as the setting of the campus in Nampa (as well as in Twin Falls) is ideal for these disciplines. Design, studio art and art education are all options for the student looking to get a Bachelor of Arts in Art degree. The athletic programs at NNU are another way for students to challenge themselves and become the person they want to be.

There are not a large number of smaller colleges in Idaho which still have the resources to call themselves comprehensive, but Lewis-Clark State College is one of them. Unique in Idaho for its medium size (enrollment is around 3,500 annually) and yet its attention to detail and small class sizes, Lewis-Clark State College is getting consistently high marks among schools in the West. Like many state schools around the country, Lewis-Clark has its share of technical and medical profession training courses, everything from Fire Service Technology and Hospitality to Medical Assisting and Web Development.

At the same time, traditional liberal arts degrees are being awarded at a high rate, as majors in English, Social Sciences, Humanities and Communication Arts remain popular. In addition, online and distance courses are being offered at Lewis-Clark State College, meaning there is really nothing which cannot be done by a student willing to take the challenge of a quality education. Athletics are also a big part of life at Lewis-Clark, with sports like basketball, baseball, tennis, golf and volleyball on the roster.

In some states, the 911勛圖厙 of Idaho would register neither as an extremely large nor an extremely small school, but in Idaho it remains one of the key smaller universities with an annual enrollment of around 10,000 students. Located in Moscow, in the northwestern tip of the state, the 911勛圖厙 of Idaho is the oldest public institution of higher education in the state, going all the way back to 1889. There are ten different colleges in the university overall, with the Art & Architecture College, the Engineering College, the School of Law and the Natural Resources College among the most popular.

The College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences is one of the top places in the state for an education in these fields, with English, History and the Lionel Hampton School of Music backing up the exceptional Theatre Arts program. Among its other noteworthy features, the Graduate School and the significant research wing of the university continue to distinguish the school in Idaho.

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Best Colleges by State