The 25 Most Desirable Rural Schools

Ranked by Newsweek as the 11th most desirable rural school in the nation, Colgate University’s 500-acre campus in Hamilton, New York, is frequently cited for its pastoral setting.  Most of the campus buildings, at least one of which is on the National Register of Historic Places, are made of stone; the first was built by students and faculty from Colgate’s very own rock quarry.

Founded as a Baptist seminary in 1819, the school maintains its motto “For God and Truth,” but has grown into a secular, non-denominational university. The private school attracts the brightest of the bright, and accepts less than a quarter of its applicants. Fewer than 3,000 students attend, and the student-to-faculty ratio is 10:1; more than half of those students are women.  

Attendance at the private school cost students approximately $41,000 in tuition and fees for the 2009–2010 academic year, a nearly 4 percent increase from the previous year, according to the U.S. Department of Education.