Overview
Marlboro College Overview
Marlboro College in Vermont offers a student-centered approach to education that is structurally and culturally different from other colleges. Unfettered by generic course requirements, each student works with their faculty adviser to choose an individualized course from 33 areas of study. For graduation, seniors complete a self-designed Plan of Concentration that is reviewed by an outside evaluator who is an expert in the student's field.
All this occurs within a campus community governed by students, faculty, and staff in monthly town meetings. The philosophy of students taking responsibility for their education is rooted in the college's beginnings in the 1940s, when G.I.s returning from World War II insisted on playing a dynamic role in their academic community.
Marlboro College's mission "to teach students to think clearly and to learn independently" is best served when students experience a wide variety of ideas, opinions, and cultural backgrounds. Such students are better prepared to acquire the skills and understanding they may need to succeed as citizens in the wider world. Marlboro College seeks to sustain a community on its campus in Vermont that is diverse in backgrounds, interests, ideas, and cultural practices where members engage one another constructively toward that end.
Marlboro College Clear Writing Program
The Marlboro College Clear Writing Program covers academic or expository writing as opposed to creative writing. Clear writing both engenders and reflects clear thinking; it is thus a skill essential to obtaining a Marlboro education. The college requires all incoming students to demonstrate that their writing skills are sufficient to ensure their successful progress through courses and tutorials toward the Plan of Concentration. Students meet this requirement by presenting a portfolio of clear, concise, and grammatical expository writing to the faculty within two semesters of matriculation.
Marlboro College Plan of Concentration Program
The Marlboro College Plan of Concentration program is an integrated study that focuses on an area of the curriculum or on a set of related questions or issues that cross disciplinary boundaries. The Plan of Concentration is meant to be an exciting adventure, where students explore matters of considerable interest to them, and in which they can observe their own development of confidence and maturity.
Marlboro College World Studies
The World Studies Office at Marlboro College supports a variety of international efforts including the college's academic program, the World Studies Program (WSP), study abroad, hosting international students and scholars, international/intercultural programming on campus, and assisting faculty-led international trips.
Marlboro College Community
Marlboro College community assembly is modeled on the traditional New England town meeting. All students, faculty, and staff members on the Vermont campus may participate, each with an equal vote. The monthly assembly governs community life and serves as a forum for college-wide issues.
Marlboro College community sentiment figures heavily into administrative decisions, and Town Meeting representatives serve on a number of faculty and administrative committees, and represent the students at trustee meetings. Town Meeting also distributes thousands of dollars to committee projects and student initiatives.
Marlboro College Outdoor Program
The Marlboro College Outdoor Program (O.P.) follows the seasons with regular sea kayaking and whitewater outings, caving, climbing, backpacking, and trips to the area's top ski resorts.
Trails crisscross the 360-acre campus in Vermont for mountain biking and hiking, and cross-country skiing on 17 miles of groomed trails when the snow flies. The nearby Green Mountain National Forest offers students a natural playground, with hiking trails, rivers, lakes, and ski resorts within 30 minutes of campus. The White Mountains, Adirondacks, Lake Champlain, and the Atlantic Coast are only two and a half hours away.
In addition to day trips and overnights, the Outdoor Program usually makes two major expeditions each school year -- one over winter break and the other during spring break. Destinations and activities are based on student interests. Past trips have included canoeing and rock climbing along the Rio Grande; paddling through the Everglades; and trips to Quebec, Jamaica, and Costa Rica that combined adventure events with community service projects and academic research.
Marlboro College Campus Life
Activities at Marlboro College are largely student-organized, from scheduling public lectures, performances, and concerts to community events like Apple Days, open mic nights, literary readings, and the Gender Bender ball. Marlboro College has two organized sports: soccer and fencing. Favorite unorganized sports include ultimate Frisbee, four-square, and broomball. The Recreation Program organizes volleyball, basketball, and softball games and schedules classes in yoga and martial arts.
Marlboro College Campus
The Marlboro College campus in Vermont is in a rural landscape, which makes it feel remote; however larger communities are accessible. Pub¬lic transportation runs daily between the college and Brattleboro, which "The 100 Best Art Towns in America" ranked in the top 10 towns with populations under 30,000.
Located just 13 miles east of campus, Brattleboro has coffee houses, bookstores, galleries, brew pubs, movie theaters, and international restaurants. Other towns and cities in the region include Bennington, VT; Northampton, MA; Hartford, CT; Albany NY; Boston, MA; New York, NY; and Montreal, QC.
