Southern Michigan is a fantastic place to live if you like friendly people, four seasons, and a slower pace of life. The region of Michigan south of I-94 offers all of the above, plus easy access to larger cities such as Detroit, Toledo, and even Chicago.
If you’re considering going to college in the area, you have a number of great options. The best colleges in Southern Michigan include the University of Michigan—Ann Arbor as well as Hillsdale College, a highly ranked liberal arts college.
Best Colleges in Southern Michigan
We wrote this guide to provide a rundown of what we believe to be the best colleges in the southernmost region of Michigan. Whether you want a large university with big-time football, school spirit and Greek life or a small liberal arts college that offers rigorous academics, you can find it in Southern Michigan.
The area is home to three top-notch colleges along with a number of great community college options. Although the community colleges in the area aren’t profiled here, they’re worth checking out if you want to save money or are having trouble getting accepted to your top-choice school.
The great thing about the community colleges in this part of Michigan is that many of them, including Glen Oaks Community College and Southwestern Michigan College, offer on-campus housing and an actual college experience, not high school 2.0 where everyone still lives at home.
With that said, here are the three best colleges in Southern Michigan.
University of Michigan—Ann Arbor
- Location: Ann Arbor, MI
- U.S. News ranking: #21 in National Universities
- Acceptance rate: 18%
- Average ACT: 33
- Average SAT: 1,440
- Graduation rate: 93%
First, a confession: We had to bend our previously stated definition of “Southern Michigan,” which we said was the part of the state below I-94, by just a couple of miles in order to include the most prestigious college or university in the state, the University of Michigan, on our list.
Because I-94 runs through the city of Ann Arbor and UM’s campus sits just north of the highway, you might quibble over whether it counts as “Southern Michigan.”
But as far as we’re concerned, it’s juuuuuust a bit south of Detroit as the crow flies, and it’s less than an hour’s drive from the Ohio line, so we’re counting it.
Why is the University of Michigan the most prestigious university in the state? First of all, it is considered, along with a handful of other elite state schools such as UCLA, UC-Berkeley, UNC-Chapel Hill and the University of Virginia, to be a “public ivy” — a state university that offers a similar campus experience and level of academic rigor to an Ivy League school.
It’s also one of the hardest state schools to get into in the entire country. Its acceptance rate has fallen to 20%. For out-of-state applicants, it’s even less than that. Even students with top grades and test scores regularly get rejected or waitlisted.
In order to stand out from the thousands of applicants vying for admission, you need more than just smarts. It generally takes a well-rounded student with demonstrated leadership capacity to get into the University of Michigan.
The school also has not just national but international acclaim and prestige. It’s a brand recognized around the world. A number of its programs rank in the top 10 in the country and the top 25 globally, including computer science, engineering, and business. A degree from UM in any of these fields is practically tantamount to a golden ticket.
Finally, if you want a classic college experience with packed football stadiums (Michigan Stadium, also known as “The Big House,” has the highest capacity of any college football stadium in the country, holding 107,601 screaming maize-and-blue clad fans), tailgating, Greek life, and a vibrant college bar scene, it’s hard to beat the University of Michigan.
There’s a reason its graduates have such a deep affinity for their alma mater, and it isn’t just the bountiful job prospects they have when they graduate. The University of Michigan is simply a fun place to go to college.
Hillsdale College
- Location: Hillsdale, MI
- U.S. News ranking: #39 in National Liberal Arts Colleges
- Acceptance rate: 21%
- Average ACT: 32
- Average SAT: 1,440
- Graduation rate: 87%
Hillsdale College is a small liberal arts college in Hillsdale, MI, a town of about 8,500 residents right in the center of Southern Michigan. The town and the campus are roughly 20 miles north of the Indiana and Ohio state lines.
Hillsdale is unique among liberal arts colleges in that it doesn’t accept a dime of federal funding. That allows it to do things with its curriculum and campus policies that other schools — even private ones — can’t.
Hillsdale doesn’t have to bow to government dictums under the threat of losing funding or losing access to federally funded student loans, because it doesn’t accept them anyway. And with an endowment value of more than $900 million, Hillsdale is doing just fine without government help.
When “The Big C” came along in 2020, for instance, Hillsdale crafted a safety and mitigation policy completely on their own, implementing and removing restrictions and mandates when they, not the government, saw fit.
As a result, Hillsdale offered more of a true college experience — in-person classes, on-campus housing, and parties and social events without capacity limitations — than just about any school in the country in the fall of 2020 and spring of 2021.
Aside from its unique funding situation, Hillsdale is known for two things: rigorous academics and truly unfettered free speech on campus, the second one making it a popular school for conservative students.
Fair warning: Hillsdale is not a place for slackers. Classes are small and professors are demanding. If you roll into your 9 a.m. class hungover without having done the reading, your professor will know within a few minutes, and you’ll definitely get called out.
Don’t expect “A’s for effort,” either. Professors at Hillsdale aren’t out to fail you just for fun, but they give grades that reflect your true mastery of the material or lack thereof, not how much face time you put in during office hours.
Hillsdale is also not a place where you have to worry about being silenced, censored, given poor grades, or told to shut up because your opinions on politics, religion, or any other topic du jour don’t match those of the crowd.
Whether you’re 10 steps to the right of Ted Cruz and don’t go anywhere without your MAGA hat, or you’re so far left you think Bernie Sanders is too fiscally conservative, you’re free to speak your mind at Hillsdale. All that’s expected is that you come hard with logic and evidence to back up your statements.
Adrian College
- Location: Adrian, MI
- U.S. News ranking: #29 in Regional Colleges Midwest
- Acceptance rate: 69%
- Average ACT: 21
- Average SAT: 1,050
- Graduation rate: 50%
Adrian College is a small, private liberal arts school located in Adrian, Michigan. Its picturesque campus is about an hour southwest of Detroit.
With an enrollment of approximately 1,750 students, it’s similar in size to Hillsdale College but much easier to get into. The acceptance rate is nearly 70%, and the average ACT and SAT scores of incoming freshmen are close to the national averages on those tests. It’s a great place for students who were average in high school to become superstars.
With a student-to-faculty ratio of 14-to-1 and most classes holding fewer than 20 students, Adrian College is a school where every student receives individual attention and has the chance to build relationships and even friendships with their professors. The school’s faculty gets the most out of students by challenging them but offering guidance every step of the way.
Adrian College offers more than 50 majors and minors, including business, education, music, and communication arts. Its Division III sports program has more than 15 varsity teams. Adrian also has club and intramural sports, and even organized e-sports.
The Bulldogs compete in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) and have won conference championships in several sports.
Student life at Adrian College is vibrant, with over 100 student organizations including Greek life, service groups, and academic clubs. The school hosts special events throughout the year, including concerts, lectures, and plays.
Adrian College is a great choice for students looking for a quality liberal arts education in southern Michigan but who might not have the grades or scores for a school like Hillsdale.
In addition to Adrian’s rigorous academics and intimate learning environment, its location in a small-but-not-tiny town of 20,000 people gives you access to many restaurants, shops, and entertainment options. The city of Adrian is also home to several parks and recreation areas.
Finally, Adrian College provides a number of resources and support services. The school’s career center helps students explore their options and find internships and jobs after graduation. The college also offers counseling services for students who need additional support.
