St. John's College

The Great Books Program

St. John's College has a radical academic program based on a reading list of great books of the Western tradition, including not only many works that would be classified as humanities, but also original writings in natural science and mathematics. The curriculum includes 4 years of mathematics, 3 years of laboratory science, 1 year of music theory, 4 years of language (2 of ancient Greek and 2 of French), and 4 years of seminar, the class considered the heart of the program, where the great works of philosophy, literature, theology, political theory, history, and social science are read by the students.

The seminar reading list begins in the freshman year with the Greeks (Homer, the historians, the playwrights, and the philosophers); continues in the sophomore year with the Romans, the Bible, and writers up to the Renaissance; takes a leap into modernity with the Enlightenment in the junior year; and makes it into the 19th and 20th centuries in the senior year.

The great books in the Western canon are not revered at St. John's. They are questioned, examined, taken to task, and not infrequently lampooned with gusto. Sustained engagement with the great books -- ancient, medieval, and modern -- leads not to a rigid, antiquated world view, but instead to flexibility, freedom, and a heightened ability to recognize sophistry and the many guises of weak thinking.

The Great Books Program reading list includes not only works that would be grouped under the humanities, but also original writings in natural science and mathematics. The all-required curriculum includes four years of mathematics, three years of laboratory science, one year of music theory, four years of language (two of ancient Greek and two of French), and four years of seminar, a class in which the great works of literature, philosophy, theology, political theory, and more are read.

The program begins in the freshman year with the Greeks (Homer, the historians, the playwrights, and the philosophers); continues in the sophomore year with the Romans, the Bible, early religious commentators, and writers up to the Renaissance; takes a leap into modernity with the Enlightenment in the junior year; and makes it into the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in the senior year.

The great books in the Western canon are not revered at St. John's College. They are questioned, examined, taken to task, and, not infrequently, lampooned with gusto. Sustained engagement with the great books -- ancient, medieval, and modern -- leads not to a rigid, antiquated world view, but instead to flexibility, freedom, and a heightened ability to recognize sophistry and the many guises of weak thinking. This is an integral component of St. John's Great Books Program.

Discussion-Based Learning

All classes at St. John's College are conducted as conversations. Every classroom has a large table around which the students and the faculty members sit. Preparation for classes involves reading original texts, sometimes translating those texts from the original languages, mastering mathematical proofs, and coming to the table ready to participate in an open and inquisitive discussion. Classroom conversations range from detailed considerations of mathematics and language to big-picture odysseys through philosophy, natural science, theology, political theory, and literature.

In this discussion-based setting, students learn to take responsibility for their own learning. They develop robust and subtle skills of analysis, reasoning, speaking, listening, and writing. They collaborate, and come to consider collaboration and cooperation in learning to be essential elements for constructive progress. They do not depend upon the faculty members for exposition, enlightenment, or advice about what the important issues might be, learning instead to explore with ready reason and unfettered imagination.

Careful and accurate listening, deft use of language, patience as well as eloquence, and an indefatigable devotion to clarity are all necessary around the table. The classroom experience at St. John's is based on mutual respect, civility, and a common desire to have great conversations about important things.

Through classes held in a discussion-based setting, students learn to take responsibility for their own learning; develop robust and subtle skills of analysis, reasoning, speaking, listening, and writing; and come to consider collaboration and cooperation in learning to be essential elements for constructive progress. They do not depend upon their tutors for exposition, enlightenment, or advice about what the important issues might be, learning instead to explore with ready reason and unfettered imagination.

At St. John's, students are judged on their classroom participation, essays, and oral exams. Learning to participate constructively in discussions in mathematics, language, laboratory, and seminar is the first challenge for freshmen. Careful and accurate listening, deft use of language, patience, eloquence, and an indefatigable devotion to clarity are necessary around the table, lest the conversation become an undisciplined free-for-all or a crashing bore. The classroom experiences in Santa Fe and Annapolis are based on mutual respect, civility, and a common desire to have great conversations at the campuses.

Integrated Community Life

Students are drawn to St. John's seeking a top-of-the-line liberal education; when they join the campus community they find not only an exceptional academic experience but a rich and coherent campus environment. The college has the luxury of being small enough that the individuals on each campus can function as a community rather than a conglomeration, and while the academic program serves to unite the community with a single purpose, life on campus is balanced between study and play, between the social and the solitary, between purpose and leisure, between the mundane and the eternal.



Above all, community life at St. John's is inclusive. Sports teams, for example, are open to all who want to play, and it's not uncommon for an experienced player pass the ball to a beginner, even in a game that counts. Students pursue their outside interests -- music, theater, publications, religion, politics, government, community service, athletics, dance, art, etc. -- in a spectrum of clubs and groups, and enjoy 2 remarkable environments: Annapolis, Maryland, and Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The Annapolis campus is eastern, about 40 feet above sea level, on a mostly level 36-acre piece of land in the center of the beautiful historic district of the state capital, with green lawns and colonial red brick buildings; the Santa Fe campus is southwestern, about 7300 feet above sea level, on a mostly hilly 250-acre piece of land several miles from the beautiful historic district of the state capital, with territorial style buildings and magnificent mountain vistas. Annapolis is in the close-to-everything mid-Atlantic world, with Baltimore and Washington DC nearby, bringing big city benefits to a small town; while Santa Fe offers a world-class music and arts scene in a splendid high-desert environment that calls students outdoor to ski, hike, raft, and breathe some of the sweetest air in the world. Students have the option to transfer between the 2 campuses from year to year, so there's time to enjoy both locations.

This is not to say that life at St. John's College is all work and no play. Members of the community are expected to contribute to and participate in community life, including its active extracurricular world. Activities range from an energetic, inclusive intramural program, suffused with the spirit of earnest amateur competition, to the theater group that stages both classic and modern plays; from a variety of extracurricular vocal and instrumental groups to dance, with swing, waltz, and ballroom dances perennially popular; from serious study groups to not-so-serious parties; from wordsmithing by literary groups to art-making through drawing, painting, pottery, and more; and a variety of other avocations in between and beyond.

The college community is intrinsic to an education at St. John's College. At its Annapolis, Maryland, and its Santa Fe, New Mexico, campuses, learning is pursued in a community context: the students are the college's greatest asset. The size of the student body (around 475 students) leads to the warmness of the welcome. Individuals are individuals, no one is a number, and no person is unknown to his or her peers or to the community at large.

• Liberal arts/general studies
• Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies
  Bachelor's Degree offered for this major.

• Acceptance Rate
• Applied433
• Accepted338
• Acceptance Rate78%
• Enrolled490
• Female Applicants215
• Females Accepted179
• Female Acceptance Rate83%
• Male Applicants218
• Males Accepted159
• Male Acceptance Rate72%
• Applying
• Application Fee$
• Required for All Essay or personal statement
  Transcript of high school record
  Letter(s) of recommendation
  
• Required for Some
• Average high school GPA for first-year freshman
• Application Deadlines
• Type Application Closing Notification Date Rolling Admissions
• Fall freshmen Yes
• Out-of-state Fall freshmen Not Reported
• Early decision plan Not Reported
• Other early decision plan Not Reported
• Transfer Yes
• Test Scores Accepted
• Test Average School Accepted 25th Percentile* 75th Percentile*
• SAT Critical Reading 640 730
• SAT Math 570 680
• SAT Writing
• ACT Composite 27 30
• * 25th and 75th percentile is the score that 25/75 percent of students score at or below.

• Tuition
• In-state tuition *$44,554
• Out-of-state tuition *$44,554
• In-district tuitionN/A
• * Tuition costs are based on a full academic year typically extending from September to June.
• Fees
• Full-time student fees$450.00
• Room and board *$10,644.00
• Room only *Not Reported
• * Room and board charges vary according to board plan selected (i.e., 12-meal plan, 19-meal plan, etc.) and student level (freshman, sophomore, etc.)
• Other Payment Considerations
• Guaranteed tuition plan offeredNo
• Tuition pre-payment planNo
• Tuition payment plans offeredInstallments
• Student groups that qualify for full or partial waiver of tuitionEmployees or children of employees

• Gender
• Total Undergraduate Students490
• Male Student Percentage57%
• Female Student Percentage43%
• Ethnicity
• Hispanic/Latino4.49%
• Black or African American.82%
• White or Caucasian79.59%
• American Indian or Alaska Native.41%
• Asian2.24%
• Native Hawaiian or other Pacific IslanderNot Reported
• Two or more races4.29%
• Unknown1.22%
• Other Student Statistics
• International Breakout6.94% representing 15 other countries
• Out-of-state Students85% out-of-state student

• Housing
• College-owned housing available Yes
• Housing Requirements None
• Housing options Coed housing , Special housing for disabled
• Percentage of undergraduate students who live in college-owned housing 69%
• Student Activities
• Student-run campus newspaper Yes
• Drama / theater group Yes
• Student-run radio station No
• Student-run television station No
• Marching band No
• Choral groups Yes
• Student Services
• Legal services No
• Health clinic Yes
• Personal / psychological counseling Yes
• Women's center No
• Student Organizations
• Greek fraternities No
• Greek sororities No
• Local fraternities No
• Local sororities No
• Other organizations Not Reported
• Most popular organizations Not Reported
• Campus Security and Safety
• 24-hour emergency telephone / alarm services Yes
• 24-hour patrols by trained officers Yes
• Students patrols Not Reported
• Late-night transport / escort services Yes
• Electronically-operated dormitory entrances Yes
• Other Not Reported

• Faculty Breakout
• Total Faculty75
• Full-time Percentage93%
• Part-time Percentage7%
• Female PercentageNot Reported
• Male PercentageNot Reported
• Student:Faculty Ratio8:1 or 492 students to 68 faculty