Carleton College is a private liberal arts college in the historic town of Northfield, Minnesota. The college currently enrolls 2,042 undergraduate students, and employs 242 instructional faculty members. Carleton is one of few liberal arts colleges that runs on the trimester system. Founded in 1866 as Northfield College, the college has since been renamed, often ranked among the top liberal arts colleges, and considered one of the "Hidden Ivies". In its 2015 edition of national liberal arts college rankings, U.S. News & World Report ranked Carleton tied for eighth-best overall with Haverford and Claremont McKenna and first for undergraduate teaching