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<p>No, it’s not. However, classes of more than 50 students (sometimes much more) are not uncommon at many state universities. At Mills, zero classes have 50 or more; its S:F ratio is 10:1. At Ohio State, 23% of classes have 50 or more students; the S:F ratio is 19:1. The percentage of large classes would be higher than that in intro-intermediate courses or in popular majors at TOSU. </p>
<p>If we’re comparing most universities and LACs of roughly equal selectivity/rank, I think it’s safe to assume (absent metrics that show otherwise) that the LAC students get more class discussion and more writing assignments in typical classes, especially for the first two years. A higher level of faculty attention is after all a major reason to choose a LAC (if you want it, that is.) The trade-off is more limited course selection. </p>
<p>I’m not too clear, though, about how TAs might affect this pattern at some big research universities. Berkeley’s average class sizes are among the smallest of any research university. It still has many very large lecture classes, but they typically are accompanied by break-out sections led by TAs. These sections often have 25-30 students (according to the online course schedules). That still would be a lot of 5 or 10 page papers to grade, especially if you’re pursuing your own doctoral research. So I’m skeptical that very many research universities leverage TAs to provide as much writing and discussion as you’d get at a small school where 70% of classes have fewer than 20 students, all taught by professors. </p>