College Consensus recently released its 2019 rankings of the Best Women’s Colleges. The group draws on data from what it calls “the most trusted published college rankings” and combines them with student reviews from a wide variety of sources to come up with its “consensus” rankings.
According to College Consensus, “women’s colleges give young women of all backgrounds the opportunity to study in an affirming, encouraging community, with some of the most influential and accomplished women in the world.”
According to the College Consensus formula, Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, is the best women’s college in the United States. Wellesley College in Massachusetts ranks second and Scripps College in Claremont, California, is third.
In what may come as a surprise to some readers, Cottey College in Nevada, Missouri, ranks fourth due to a very high rating on student satisfactions surveys. Barnard College in New York City and Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, are ranked fifth and sixth in the College Consensus rankings. Both schools are both ranked by U.S. News & World Report as among the best liberal arts colleges in the United States, regardless of co-educational status, yet trail Cottey College in the College Consensus rankings.
Rounding out the top 10 women’s colleges in the College Consensus rankings are Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, Spelman College in Atlanta, the College of Saint Benedict in Minnesota, and William Smith College in Geneva, New York.