Muhlenberg. Lovely, friendly, not as hard to get into as some of the others.
Kenyon lists its overlap schools, with many East Coast LACs, often NESCACs, included (scroll to The Company We Keep):
https://www.kenyon.edu/admissions-aid/admissions-statistics/
Clark, Skidmore, St. Lawrence, Bates.
Has he considered that he liked it BECAUSE it is not an east coast school? East Coast is lovely but it is quite a bit more intense than other areas of the country.
Sometimes you have to go to the environment you like and not try to change it at schools that are closer to home.
@bklynkids, My son really liked Kenyon too, for much the same reasons that your son was drawn to it. He had also started his search focused on urban campuses, but after visiting found that something about the natural beauty, community and insularity of rural campuses spoke to him. He ended up at Williams, witt Kenyon, Hamilton and Wesleyan on his short list.
I think descriptors like “sporty, preppy, laid-back and artsy” can distracting Sporty can mean competitive team sports (which all LACs field) or it can mean outdoorsy activities that are popular at all rural colleges. Preppy is pretty much meaningless these days. Even the prep schools are not preppy any more, and though though all selective colleges admit their share of upper middle class and wealthy kids, economic and cultural diversity is an important goal as well. Students at all academically rigorous LACs take their classes seriously though not all are competitive. How they deal with stress and what they do when they are not in class is an important point of differentiation.
Artsy also covers a lot of ground. My son as a visual artist looked for strength in studio art and art history, at which Williams and the other schools on his short list excelled. Many of his Williams classmates were serious musicians who took advantage of Williams’ multiple performance opportunities, even though they majored in other disciplines.
Education per se isn’t offered as a major at most LACs, though many graduates get their certificates and teach after graduation. I don’t think you could find an LAC that doesn’t feature some aspect of social justice, advocacy and/or environmentalism.
Vassar and Skidmore.
Based on the first potential major you listed, you may want to search “20 Best Value Small Colleges for Sociology and Anthropology Degrees.”