Is Notre Dame or Bucknell better for smaller class sizes?

The biggest practical tradeoff is scale: Bucknell is a much smaller university overall, so it typically feels more intimate day to day, while Notre Dame offers a larger campus environment with more students and resources. If your main question is smaller classes and more consistent personal attention, Bucknell usually has the edge. Its size makes discussion-based classes, professor accessibility, and a close-knit academic feel more central to the student experience.

Notre Dame also does very well on personal attention compared with many large universities. It is known for strong undergraduate teaching, and many students still find professors accessible, especially outside the biggest introductory courses. But because Notre Dame is significantly larger than Bucknell, you are more likely to encounter a wider mix of class sizes, especially early on.

Bucknell’s liberal arts emphasis shows up in the classroom. Even though it has university-level offerings in areas like engineering and business, it often feels more like a small college academically, with closer student-faculty interaction built into the structure. That usually translates into more seminar-style settings and more chances for professors to know students by name.

Notre Dame can still be a strong option if you want small classes without giving up the energy of a bigger residential campus. In upper-level classes, especially within your major, the experience can become much more personal. But strictly on the question of smaller class sizes and a discussion-oriented environment, Bucknell is the clearer answer.