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Summary
Bard College is a private institution that was founded in 1860. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 1,982, its setting is rural, and the campus size is 600 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Bard College's ranking in the 2013 edition of Best Colleges is National Liberal Arts Colleges, 36. Its tuition and fees are $44,798 (2012-13).
Bard College’s setting is less like a typical campus than a vast village spread out across 500 acres of parks and woodland. Located in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., the secluded school is close to the Hudson River and the Catskill Mountains. Many students have views of the campus’s nearby scenery from their dorm rooms. First-year students must live in one of the campus’s 40 different residence halls and houses, some of which have “alcohol free,” “quiet,” and “wellness” themes. For outdoor recreation, students can go horseback riding, canoeing, hiking, and biking. There are more than 80 clubs on campus, and students are welcome to start new organizations. There is no elected student government at Bard, and no Greek system, either. More than half of Bard students study abroad before graduation. There are tons of student volunteer options, like the Bard Prison Initiative, a program that sends students to maximum- and medium-security jails throughout New York to tutor inmates. The Bard Raptors sports teams are members of the NCAA Division III Eastern College Athletic Conference. Freshmen at Bard start college earlier than their peers at most other schools, arriving in early August for a three-week orientation to campus, academic, and community life known as the Language and Thinking Program.
For day trips, New York City is 90 miles from campus, and easily accessible by train. Students have several options for longer stays in the Big Apple, too. Through the Bard-Rockefeller Semester in Science, students can enroll in an intensive semester of research and study at New York’s Rockefeller University. Students will live at Rockefeller and will work in the university’s laboratories. Students can spend also spend a semester or two in New York through the Bard Globalization and International Affairs Program, which pairs students with internships in international relations and human rights areas. In addition to its undergraduate offerings, Bard has unique graduate degree options such as a master’s of music in conducting through its Conservatory of Music and a doctorate of philosophy in decorative arts. Notable alumni of Bard College include journalist Matt Taibbi; actor Christopher Guest; and the founders of Steely Dan, musicians Donald Fagen and Walter Becker.
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Perhaps best expressed by Professor Chinua Achebe: "What you want to do as a teacher is to make people aware of the complexity of experience - that our little corner is real and very important, but it is not the whole. And we should make the effort to understand as much of the rest as we can possibly manage. This is not a threatening position: it is an enriching one. This is what education should aim to do: to draw out from us what is there so that it can interact with what's outside." |
General Information
| School type | private, coed college |
| Year founded | 1860 |
| Religious affiliation | N/A |
| Academic calendar | semester |
| Setting | rural |
| 2011 Endowment | N/A |
Applying
When applying to Bard College, it's important to note the application deadline is January 1, and the early action deadline is November 1. The application fee at Bard College is $50. It is more selective, with an acceptance rate of 34.6 percent.
For more information about the tests, essays, interviews, and admissions process, visit the Applying to College knowledge center.
| Selectivity | more selective |
| Fall 2011 acceptance rate | 34.6% |
| Application deadline | January 1 |
| SAT/ACT scores must be received by | N/A |
Academic Life
The student-faculty ratio at Bard College is 10:1, and the school has 77.3 percent of its classes with fewer than 20 students. The most popular majors at Bard College include: Visual and Performing Arts; Social Sciences; English Language and Literature/Letters; Area, Ethnic, Cultural, Gender, and Group Studies; and Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics. The average freshman retention rate, an indicator of student satisfaction, is 87.0 percent.
Student Life
Bard College has a total undergraduate enrollment of 1,982, with a gender distribution of 42.2 percent male students and 57.8 percent female students. At this school, 74.0 percent of the students live in college-owned, -operated, or -affiliated housing and 26.0 percent of students live off campus. Bard College is part of the NCAA III athletic conference.
See what students are saying about life at Bard College.
| Total enrollment | 2,302 |
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| Collegiate athletic association | NCAA III |
Campus Info & Services
Bard College offers a number of student services including nonremedial tutoring, placement service, health service, and health insurance. Bard College also offers campus safety and security services like 24-hour foot and vehicle patrols, late night transport/escort service, 24-hour emergency telephones, lighted pathways/sidewalks, student patrols, and controlled dormitory access (key, security card, etc). Of the students at Bard College, 60 percent have cars on campus. Alcohol is permitted for students of legal age at Bard College.
| Students who have cars on campus | 60% |
| Health insurance offered | Yes |
| Students required to own/lease a computer | No |
More About Campus Info & Services
Paying for School
At Bard College, 66.3 percent of full-time undergraduates receive some kind of need-based financial aid and the average need-based scholarship or grant award is $30,018.
Paying for college doesn't have to be difficult or devastating. Go to the Paying for College knowledge center to get advice on raising cash and reducing costs.
| Tuition and fees | $44,798 (2012-13) |
| Room and board | $12,782 (2012-13) |
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* Overview details based on 2011 data
