National ranking · Clery-reported enrollment

The Smallest Colleges in America

The 50 smallest four-year degree-granting institutions in the United States by total enrolment reported through the Department of Education's Campus Safety and Security Survey. IPEDS supplies the four-year classification and location; two-year and vocational schools are excluded.

1
Students at the smallest
163
Four-year colleges under 100 students
1,857
Median four-year enrolment

DeVry University-Nevada is the smallest four-year U.S. college in this Clery enrollment ranking

According to U.S. Department of Education Clery enrollment filings, DeVry University-Nevada reports 1 enrolled students, the lowest count among four-year degree-granting institutions in this top-50 list. 163 of 2,623 four-year reporting institutions enroll under 100 students; the median four-year institution enrolls about 1,857. Two-year and vocational schools are excluded by design.

Data source U.S. Department of Education, OPE Campus Safety and Security Survey / IPEDS

Smallest enrollment
1
Four-year colleges under 100
163
Median four-year enrollment
1,857
Campuses on this list
50

What the list actually shows

America's smallest four-year colleges are specialist institutions rather than small liberal-arts campuses: 23 of these 50 are religious colleges and seminaries, and 39 are private nonprofits. DeVry University-Nevada reports 1 enrolled students, while the median four-year institution enrols 1,857, about 1,857 times as many.

2,623
four-year institutions ranked
939
enrol under 1,000
39/50
private nonprofit in this top 50

Enrolment is total reported students for the 2024 collection, not full-time equivalent. A branch campus is reported separately from its parent institution, so a satellite site can appear here with a very low count while the university it belongs to is large.

The bar to make this top-50 smallest list is 43 students. Here is where that cutoff sits among all 2,623 four-year institutions:

The bar to make this top-50 smallest list

Clery-reported enrollment · four-year degree-granting · 2024

43 Among the smallest smaller than 98% of 2,623 four-year colleges

Show national distribution 0–1,000: 939 four-year colleges (36%). This entry sits in this band. 1,000–2,000: 423 four-year colleges (16%). Above this entry. 2,000–3,000: 298 four-year colleges (11%). Above this entry. 3,000–4,000: 173 four-year colleges (7%). Above this entry. 4,000–5,000: 790 four-year colleges (30%). Above this entry. #50 cutoff 0 5,000 every four-year college, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more four-year colleges. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Department of Education, OPE Campus Safety and Security Survey / IPEDS · 2024

18
Yeshiva Ohr Yisrael Brooklyn, NY · Private nonprofit
Enrolled students
23
Incidents / 1,000
0.00
20
Messenger College Bedford, TX · Private nonprofit
Enrolled students
24
Incidents / 1,000
0.00
22
Yeshiva Bais Aharon Lakewood, NJ · Private nonprofit
Enrolled students
25
Incidents / 1,000
0.00
35
Yeshivath Beth Moshe Scranton, PA · Private nonprofit
Enrolled students
34
Incidents / 1,000
0.00
37
Alaska Bible College Palmer, AK · Private nonprofit
Enrolled students
38
Incidents / 1,000
0.00
39
Indian Bible College Flagstaff, AZ · Private nonprofit
Enrolled students
38
Incidents / 1,000
0.00
45
Yeshiva Zichron Aryeh Far Rockaway, NY · Private nonprofit
Enrolled students
41
Incidents / 1,000
0.00
47
Maine Media College Rockport, ME · Private nonprofit
Enrolled students
42
Incidents / 1,000
0.00
# Enrolled studentsIncidents / 1,000
1 DeVry University-Nevada Henderson, NV · Private for-profit 1 0.00
2 DeVry University-Arizona Phoenix, AZ · Private for-profit 6 0.00
3 Jackson Theological Seminary North Little Rock, AR · Private nonprofit 7 0.00
4 The School of Architecture Scottsdale, AZ · Private nonprofit 8 0.00
5 Theological Seminary of the Reformed Episcopal Church Blue Bell, PA · Private nonprofit 12 0.00
6 Central Yeshiva Beth Joseph Brooklyn, NY · Private nonprofit 15 0.00
7 Conway School of Landscape Design Northampton, MA · Private nonprofit 17 0.00
8 DeVry University-Texas Irving, TX · Private for-profit 17 0.00
9 Talmudical Institute of Upstate New York Rochester, NY · Private nonprofit 17 0.00
10 Arizona School of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Tucson, AZ · Private for-profit 19 0.00
11 DeVry University-Virginia Arlington, VA · Private for-profit 19 0.00
12 Missio Theological Seminary Philadelphia, PA · Private nonprofit 20 0.00
13 The Chicago School at Xavier University of Louisiana New Orleans, LA · Private nonprofit 20 0.00
14 Florida Academy of Nursing Miramar, FL · Private for-profit 21 0.00
15 Tri-State Bible College South Point, OH · Private nonprofit 21 0.00
16 Pacific Bible College Medford, OR · Private nonprofit 22 0.00
17 Redeemers University North America Greenville, TX · Private nonprofit 23 0.00
18 Yeshiva Ohr Yisrael Brooklyn, NY · Private nonprofit 23 0.00
19 Byzantine Catholic Seminary of Saints Cyril and Methodius Pittsburgh, PA · Private nonprofit 24 1125.00
20 Messenger College Bedford, TX · Private nonprofit 24 0.00
21 Shasta Bible College and Graduate School Redding, CA · Private nonprofit 25 40.00
22 Yeshiva Bais Aharon Lakewood, NJ · Private nonprofit 25 0.00
23 Talmudic College of Florida Miami Beach, FL · Private nonprofit 28 0.00
24 American Academy of Health and Wellness Roseville, MN · Private for-profit 29 0.00
25 CHI Health School of Radiologic Technology Omaha, NE · Private nonprofit 29 0.00
26 Wongu University of Oriental Medicine Las Vegas, NV · Private nonprofit 29 0.00
27 Midwest College of Oriental Medicine-Skokie Skokie, IL · Private for-profit 30 0.00
28 Yeshiva Gedolah of Cliffwood Keyport, NJ · Private nonprofit 30 0.00
29 Christ Mission College San Antonio, TX · Private nonprofit 32 0.00
30 Institute of Taoist Education and Acupuncture Louisville, CO · Private nonprofit 32 0.00
31 Mid-South Christian College Memphis, TN · Private nonprofit 32 31.25
32 Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico-Miami Miami, FL · Private nonprofit 32 0.00
33 Summit Christian College Gering, NE · Private nonprofit 32 0.00
34 Virginia Beach Theological Seminary Virginia Beach, VA · Private nonprofit 33 0.00
35 Yeshivath Beth Moshe Scranton, PA · Private nonprofit 34 0.00
36 Midwest College of Oriental Medicine-Racine Racine, WI · Private for-profit 37 0.00
37 Alaska Bible College Palmer, AK · Private nonprofit 38 0.00
38 Bais Medrash Mayan Hatorah Lakewood, NJ · Private nonprofit 38 0.00
39 Indian Bible College Flagstaff, AZ · Private nonprofit 38 0.00
40 Academy for Five Element Acupuncture Gainesville, FL · Private nonprofit 39 0.00
41 Mesivta of Eastern Parkway-Yeshiva Zichron Meilech Brooklyn, NY · Private nonprofit 39 0.00
42 Church Divinity School of the Pacific Berkeley, CA · Private nonprofit 40 0.00
43 Orion Technical College Davenport, IA · Private for-profit 41 0.00
44 Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Philadelphia, PA · Private nonprofit 41 0.00
45 Yeshiva Zichron Aryeh Far Rockaway, NY · Private nonprofit 41 0.00
46 Eastern School of Acupuncture and Traditional Medicine Bloomfield, NJ · Private for-profit 42 0.00
47 Maine Media College Rockport, ME · Private nonprofit 42 0.00
48 Agape College of Business and Science Fresno, CA · Private nonprofit 43 0.00
49 Boston Baptist College Boston, MA · Private nonprofit 43 23.26
50 Montessori Education Center of the Rockies Denver, CO · Private nonprofit 43 0.00

How this ranking is scoped

Only institutions classified in IPEDS as four-year or above and reporting at least one enrolled student are ranked, 2,623 in total. Institutions that did not report an enrolment figure are excluded rather than treated as zero, which would otherwise put them at the top of a "smallest" list without any evidence that they are small. The 50th place cut-off is 43 students, so any institution enrolling fewer would displace it. Counts of institution type in the summary above are taken from the 50 rows in the table, not from a separate query, so the two can never disagree.

A small enrolment is not a safety verdict. The incidents-per-1,000-students column is the Clery Act on-campus rate where one is published, and on a campus of a few dozen students a single reported incident moves that rate enormously, so it should be read as context rather than a comparison. Many institutions on this list report no rate at all.

Looking for the other end of the scale? See the 50 largest universities by enrolment.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education and National Center for Education Statistics OPE Campus Safety and Security Survey enrollment, joined to IPEDS level and sector classifications · 2024 Ranked over 2,623 four-year degree-granting institutions reporting a non-zero enrolment. Two-year and vocational institutions are outside this ranking's scope.

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Every figure on PlainCampus is rendered directly from federal Clery Act source data, no number is typed in by an editor. Every figure on this page is queried directly from the federal IPEDS and Clery Act tables, no count is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.