| | :A successful undergraduate education should primarily develop the essential skills of writing, researching, articulating and defending ideas, and working with others—the skills that prepare graduates for leadership in most any career.<ref>[http://www.williams.edu/admission/academics.php Williams College: Academics], Williams College website</ref> | | :A successful undergraduate education should primarily develop the essential skills of writing, researching, articulating and defending ideas, and working with others—the skills that prepare graduates for leadership in most any career.<ref>[http://www.williams.edu/admission/academics.php Williams College: Academics], Williams College website</ref> |
| − | Famous liberal arts colleges include Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Wellesley, Middlebury, Carleton, Bowdoin, Pomona, Haverford, and Davidson.<ref>[http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1libartco_brief.php Liberal Arts Colleges: Top Schools], U. S. News and World Report]</ref> The colleges of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC)<ref>[http://www.nescac.com/ NESCAC]: Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Connecticut College, Hamilton, Middlebury, Trinity, Tufts, Wesleyan, Williams</ref> are called the "little Ivies" and are sometimes seen analogous to the universities of the [[Ivy League]]. Most of them were historically men's colleges. The "Seven Sisters," another famous group, were historically women's liberal arts colleges; of the original seven, Mount Holyoke, Smith, Bryn Mawr, Wellesley, and Barnard remain women's colleges (Barnard with an affiliation with Columbia University); Vassar is coeducational; and Radcliffe no longer exists as an independent undergraduate college (it is part of Harvard University).<ref>[http://www.mtholyoke.edu/cic/about/12812.shtml The Seven Sisters], Mount Holyoke's website</ref> | + | Famous liberal arts colleges include Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Wellesley, Middlebury, Carleton, Bowdoin, Pomona, Haverford, and Davidson.<ref>[http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1libartco_brief.php Liberal Arts Colleges: Top Schools], U. S. News and World Report</ref> The colleges of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC)<ref>[http://www.nescac.com/ NESCAC]: Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Connecticut College, Hamilton, Middlebury, Trinity, Tufts, Wesleyan, Williams</ref> are called the "little Ivies" and are sometimes seen analogous to the universities of the [[Ivy League]]. Most of them were historically men's colleges. The "Seven Sisters," another famous group, were historically women's liberal arts colleges; of the original seven, Mount Holyoke, Smith, Bryn Mawr, Wellesley, and Barnard remain women's colleges (Barnard with an affiliation with Columbia University); Vassar is coeducational; and Radcliffe no longer exists as an independent undergraduate college (it is part of Harvard University).<ref>[http://www.mtholyoke.edu/cic/about/12812.shtml The Seven Sisters], Mount Holyoke's website</ref> |