Bard College

Building on a 165-year history as a competitive and innovative undergraduate institution, Bard Colleges mission has expanded across the country, around the world, and to meet broader student needs.

Undergraduates at the Annandale campus come from all regions of the country. Over 18 percent of the student body is international, representing more than 40 countries. Undergraduates share the campus with the students and faculty of a conservatory of music and several graduate programs, which present lectures, concerts, and exhibitions that are open to the entire College community. Affiliated programs and research centers, such as the Fisher Center for Performing Arts, Levy Economics Institute, Hessel Museum of Art, Bard Field Station, and Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities, also enrich student life.

Bard was founded as St. Stephen’s College in 1860, a time of national crisis. While we have no written records of the founders’ attitude toward the Civil War, a passage from the College’s 1943 catalogue applies also to the institution’s beginnings: “While the immediate demands in education are for the training of men for the war effort, liberal education in America must be preserved as an important value in the civilization for which the War is being fought. . . . Since education, like life itself, is a continuous process of growth and effort, the student has to be trained to comprehend and foster his own growth and direct his own efforts.” This philosophy molded the College during its early years and continues to inform its academic aims.