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Louisiana's top schools range from a large public university to a small, private liberal arts college. My list includes a Catholic university, a historically black university, and one of the country's top private universities. I've listed the top Louisiana colleges alphabetically to avoid the arbitrary distinctions often used to distinguish #1 from #2, and because of the impossibility of comparing such widely different types of schools. The schools were chosen based on factors such as academic reputation, curricular innovation, first-year retention rate, six-year graduation rate, value, financial aid and student engagement.
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Centenary College of Louisiana
Billy Hathorn / Wikimedia Commons
- Location: Shreveport, Louisiana
- Enrollment: 974 (887 undergraduates)
- Type of Institution: private liberal arts college
- Distinctions: 11 to 1 student / faculty ratio; average class size of 16; good value; generous grant aid; rich history going back to 1825; students from 30 states and 12 countries
- For acceptance rate, test scores, costs and other information, visit the Centenary College profile
LSU, Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
Shoshanah / Flickr
- Location: , Louisiana
- Enrollment: 28,643 (23,012 undergraduates)
- Type of Institution: public university
- Distinctions: flagship institution of Louisiana; attractive 2,000-acre campus; one of the country's most popular universities; 74 bachelor's degree programs; chapter of Phi Beta Kappa for strong liberal arts and sciences; well-regarded business school; good value; member of the NCAA Division I Southeastern Conference
- For acceptance rate, test scores, costs and other information, visit the LSU profile
Louisiana Tech University
Monica's Dad / Flickr
- Location: Ruston, Louisiana
- Enrollment: 10,917 (8,618 undergraduates)
- Type of Institution: public university
- Distinctions: students come from 46 states and 59 countries; good value for both in-state and out-of-state students; competes in the NCAA Division I Western Athletic Conference
- For acceptance rate, test scores, costs and other information, visit the Louisiana Tech profile
Loyola University New Orleans
louisianatravel / Flickr
- Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
- Enrollment: 4,714 (2,764 undergraduates)
- Type of Institution: private Jesuit university
- Distinctions: 12 to 1 student / faculty ratio; choice of 61 Bachelor's degree programs; highly ranked among colleges in the South; over 120 student clubs and organizations; good grant aid
- For acceptance rate, test scores, costs and other information, visit the Loyola University New Orleans profile
Tulane University
AuthenticEccentric / Flickr
- Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
- Enrollment: 11,464 (7,160 undergraduates)
- Type of Institution: private university
- Distinctions: member of the Association of American Universities for strong research programs; chapter of Phi Beta Kappa for strong liberal arts and sciences; highly selective admissions; member of the NCAA Division I Conference USA
- For acceptance rate, test scores, costs and other information, visit the Tulane University profile
Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA)
Editor B / Flickr
- Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
- Enrollment: 3,236 (2,454 undergraduates)
- Type of Institution: private, Catholic, historically black liberal arts university
- Distinctions: the country's only Catholic historically black university; strong programs in the sciences balanced with a liberal arts core curriculum; strong record of placing students into medical school
- For acceptance rate, test scores, costs and other information, visit the XULA profile
