we made a list of the most queer-friendly colleges in smaller towns/more rural areas!
good news is you don't necessarily have to go to school in a big city to find lgbtq+ community, as long as you know what to ask and look for.
1) Antioch College (Yellow Springs, OH)
Antioch stands out because the school publicly reports an extraordinarily queer student community: 82% of students identify as LGBTQ+ and 16% identify as transgender (from its student survey). They have a culture built around belonging, social justice, and real-world learning, in a town that has its own long-standing reputation for LGBTQ+ inclusion.
2) College of the Atlantic (Bar Harbor, ME)
COA is ranked #1 LGBTQ-Friendly by The Princeton Review (based on student survey responses about peer treatment across sexual orientation and gender identity/expression). It's a tiny campus in a tiny town off the coast of Maine and has a “human ecology” approach to education that emphasizes values, systems, and impact.
3) Wellesley College (Wellesley, MA)
Wellesley consistently shows up as a campus where LGBTQ+ students report feeling supported (#4 LGBTQ-Friendly ranking in The Princeton Review) and haw q visible, student-led queer community life and queer culture that has its own traditions and continuity, not just offices and policies.
4) Wesleyan University (Middletown, CT)
Wesleyan is ranked #6 LGBTQ-Friendly by The Princeton Review and has visible academic and campus-life infrastructure that signals queer community is integrated into the school, not siloed. Strong arts + activism + intellectual culture tends to create a campus where queer students can find community across multiple scenes — not just in one designated "queer" space.
5) Smith College (Northampton, MA)
Smith lands high because it has a well-known queer student culture with concrete, practical inclusion signals, like a stated admissions policy that explicitly includes self-identified trans women and visible, day-to-day supports like a published map of gender-neutral bathroom locations. It's in a small city (hello "Lesbianville, USA!") where off-campus queer community is also deeply woven into the place so the sense of belonging doesn’t end at the campus gates.
6) Mount Holyoke College (South Hadley, MA)
Mount Holyoke is explicit about who it’s for: it states it welcomes female, trans, and nonbinary students, which is a major clarity point for students considering women’s colleges and wondering whether they’ll truly be included. Strong “queer legacy” energy with LGBTQ+ communityhistory, continuity, and tradition rather than feeling new or fragile.
7) Bennington College (Bennington, VT)
Bennington’s placement is supported by student-reported climate (ranked #5 LGBTQ-Friendly by The Princeton Review) and a campus culture known for self-expression and student-driven community-building which is extra important in a small-town setting.
8) Oberlin College (Oberlin, OH)
Oberlin has a long-running reputation for progressive culture and offers practical inclusion infrastructure, including clear housing policies that support gender diversity. Activism, arts, and identity aren’t side quests, they’re part of the college’s public identity.
9) Kenyon College (Gambier, OH)
Kenyon makes the list because it backs inclusion with structure. It reports a five-star Campus Pride Index rating and supports community through Unity House plus widely available gender-inclusive housing options on a small-town campus that still manages to build real, durable LGBTQ+ spaces.
10) Grinnell College (Grinnell, IA)
Grinnell earns its spot because it has a visible, named hub for LGBTQIA+ community — the Stonewall Resource Center — and a campus culture that consistently emphasizes belonging and student support.
any others you think we should include?
& some more resources for you here, like questions to ask on a college tour, must-have college experiences, & how to find community on campus!
dededos
stormborns
annaxmalina
snowghoul
yousharknotpass
origamiaround
