Bard College

Bard College, is based in a hamlet in Dutchess County, New York in the town of Red Hook. The campus overlooks the picturesque Hudson River and Catskill Mountains, and was founded in 1860 as St. Stephen's College.

Notably Bard College is less like a typical campus and more like a vast village, which is spread out across 500 acres of parks and woodland. In September 2011, Travel+Leisure named the college as one of the most beautiful campuses in the United States.

The institution offers over 20 graduate degrees in the arts and sciences while also having a network of over thirty-five affiliated programs, institutes, and centres – which span twelve cities and four continents.

The college was in fact the first nation to offer a human rights degree. Other subjects on offer include: philosophy, history, science, poetry, fiction, and religion.

There are over 120 student clubs on offer at Bard College from sport and music to languages. These include: the International Students Organization, Anti-Capitalism Feminist Coalition, Body Image Discussion Group, and the Bard Debate Union.

Bard College also has one print newspaper – called the Bard Free Press – which was awarded a Best in Show title by the Associated Collegiate Press in 2013. Moreover student-run literary magazines include the semi-annual Lux, The Moderator, and Sui Generis, a journal of translations and of original poetry in languages other than English.

New York City is just 90 miles from campus and is easily accessible. More than just day trips, however, students have several options for longer stays in the Big Apple, too. For instance, through the Bard-Rockefeller Semester in Science, students can enrol in an intensive term of research and study at New York’s Rockefeller University.

Student-run theatre is very popular on campus, and dozens of student direct and write productions each semester. A 24 Hour Theatre Festival is also held at least once a year.

Bard College teams participate as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division III. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, lacrosse, soccer, squash, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field and volleyball; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, lacrosse, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field and volleyball.

Notable alumni include Adrian Grenier, an American actor, producer, director and musician, Donald Jay Fagen, an American musician, singer- songwriter, and Christopher Guest, an English-American screenwriter, composer, musician, director, actor, and comedian.