Eastern ranked 15th in nation among public liberal arts colleges
U.S. News & World Report 2027 rankings released
Willimantic, CT (09/28/2026) — Eastern Connecticut State University is the 15th top public liberal arts college in the nation according to the latest 2027 U.S. News and World Report rankings released on Sept. 22. Eastern is one of only two New England schools on the list, joining Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.
National liberal arts colleges emphasize four-year baccalaureate education and award at least half of their degrees in the arts and sciences.
Eastern's move to the new category reflects the 2025 update of the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. This new designation aligns well with Eastern's public liberal arts mission to prepare graduates for successful careers and productive civic lives.
"We are very pleased to be ranked among our nation's top public liberal arts colleges," said Eastern President Karim Ismaili. "Eastern's hallmark liberal arts education prepares students in more than 40 majors to become thoughtful, engaged citizens and successful professionals in their chosen career fields. Eastern graduates are problem-solvers, innovators, collaborators, and ethical decision-makers. This recognition is one more indicator that Connecticut residents have access to an affordable, high-quality education at Eastern."
Eastern students take a broad-based curriculum designed to teach them problem-solving skills, analytical thinking, professional communications, ethics, creativity, and mathematical literacy. Eastern is committed to enhancing students' classroom learning with experiential learning ranging from internships to study abroad. Upwards of 800 paid and for-credit internships a year range from political science interns at the Connecticut General Assembly to nursing interns at Hartford HealthCare hospitals. Study abroad students have a choice of 130 different opportunities.
A commitment to community service is evidenced by 1,600 student volunteers annually providing 28,000 hours of service to the local community, a value of $700,000. Eastern also places a priority on sustainability and has been named a Green College by the Princeton Review 17 years in a row.
This fall, Eastern has welcomed its largest first-year class in history, with 1,146 first-year students. Affirming its commitment to access to higher education, 54% of new students are the first generation in their families to attend college. Eastern's students represent 20 states and 28 countries. As a marker of its residential, liberal arts tradition, 91% of first-year students and 67% of all undergraduate students live on campus. The five most popular majors include Health Science, Nursing, Criminology, Psychology, and Business Administration.
The U.S. News and World Report rankings rate more than 1,700 schools, using multiple data sources and detailed criteria. Thirteen measures in the national liberal arts colleges category range from graduation rates and first-to-second-year retention rates to earnings by major, peer assessment, faculty salaries, and financial resources. In addition to institutional surveys, the rankings use data from the Department of Education's College Scoreboard and DOE's Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.
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Eastern Connecticut State University is the state of Connecticut's public liberal arts university, serving upwards of 4,000 students annually on its Willimantic campus. A residential campus offering 41 majors and 68 minors, Eastern offers students a strong liberal arts foundation grounded in a variety of applied learning opportunities. Ranked among the top 25 public institutions in the North by U.S. News & World Report in its 2025-26 Best Colleges ratings, Eastern has also been awarded 'Green Campus' status by the Princeton Review 15 years in a row. For more information, visit www.easternct.edu.
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Michael Rouleau, (860) 465-0172, rouleaum@easternct.edu; communications@easternct.eduShare this Story
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