Best South

Alabama (AL), Arkansas (AR), Florida (FL), Georgia (GA), Kentucky (KY), Louisiana (LA), Mississippi (MS), North Carolina (NC), South Carolina (SC), and Tennessee (TN)

For our "2026 Best Colleges: Region by Region" web feature, we salute 631 colleges in seven zones—Northeast, South, Southwest, Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, West, and International (outside of the United States)—that we consider academically outstanding and well worth consideration in your college search. 

Please note that these lists are not ranked. These lists appear in alphabetical order. Schools marked "featured" have paid a fee for that designation but not for inclusion in this list.


Showing 51 - 75 of 109 results

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Featured Our marketing partner institutions Near Me Sorted by distance from your search location Popularity Sorted by number of views Size Sorted by total enrollment Name Listed in alphabetical order

Brenau University

  • Gainesville, GA
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  • 1,336 Full-Time Enrollment

Barton College

  • Wilson, NC
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  • 1,163 Full-Time Enrollment

University of Tennessee at Martin

  • Martin, TN
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  • 6,170 Full-Time Enrollment

Berry College

  • Mount Berry, GA
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  • 2,262 Full-Time Enrollment

Shorter University

  • Rome, GA
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  • 1,642 Full-Time Enrollment

Coker University

  • Hartsville, SC
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  • 678 Full-Time Enrollment

University of Georgia

  • Athens, GA
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  • 32,399 Full-Time Enrollment

Oglethorpe University

  • Atlanta, GA
  • •
  • 1,452 Full-Time Enrollment

University of South Carolina—Columbia

  • Columbia, SC
  • •
  • 30,187 Full-Time Enrollment

Emory University

  • Atlanta, GA
  • •
  • 7,320 Full-Time Enrollment

Agnes Scott College

  • Decatur, GA
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  • 839 Full-Time Enrollment

Union University

  • Jackson, TN
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  • 3,377 Full-Time Enrollment

Georgia Institute of Technology

  • Atlanta, GA
  • •
  • 21,028 Full-Time Enrollment

Spelman College

  • Atlanta, GA
  • •
  • 2,712 Full-Time Enrollment

Clark Atlanta University

  • Atlanta, GA
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  • 3,390 Full-Time Enrollment

University of West Georgia

  • Carrollton, GA
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  • 9,157 Full-Time Enrollment

Georgia College & State University

  • Milledgeville, GA
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  • 6,006 Full-Time Enrollment

Talladega College

  • Talladega, AL
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  • 1,230 Full-Time Enrollment

University of North Carolina Wilmington

  • Wilmington, NC
  • •
  • 15,254 Full-Time Enrollment

Wesleyan College

  • Macon, GA
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  • 754 Full-Time Enrollment

The University of Alabama at Birmingham

  • Birmingham, AL
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  • 12,100 Full-Time Enrollment

Mercer University

  • Macon, GA
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  • 4,719 Full-Time Enrollment

Samford University

  • Birmingham, AL
  • •
  • 4,210 Full-Time Enrollment

Arkansas State University

  • State University, AR
  • •
  • 9,592 Full-Time Enrollment

Christian Brothers University

  • Memphis, TN
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  • 1,526 Full-Time Enrollment

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