Marlboro College was founded in 1946 by returning World War II veterans on Potash Hill in Marlboro, Vermont. The school's operation was initially financed using money received from the GI Bill. The campus incorporates the buildings of two old farms that once operated on the college site. Marlboro has grown slowly but steadily since its inception and about 330 students currently attend.

Academics

Marlboro College emphasizes a flexible, personal, and interdisciplinary approach to undergraduate education. Class sizes are small and the student-to-teacher ratio is very low (normal classes average about ten students). Students work closely with professors and create their own customized tutorial classes as they begin to pursue more specific studies in their later years. Students are encouraged to take courses in a wide variety of subjects during their Freshman and Sophomore years. Because of the college's small size most departments are very small, often consisting of only a single professor.

Freshman students usually take one or more Designated Writing Classes. These classes are designed to boost their writing skills to an acceptable undergraduate level. All Freshman must submit 20 pages of writing to the Clear Writing Committee by the end of their second semester. If the committee decides that a student's writing skills need more work, they recommend a class to help, and the student must prepare another 20 pages at the end of the next semester for re-evaluation. In the unlikely event that a student fails the writing requirement for three consecutive semesters the school usually asks them to leave.

Juniors and Senior focus on developing a Plan of Concentration, a large self-designed project often involving a special combination of majors and minors. Juniors and Seniors focus on developing independent work and increasingly take personalized tutorial classes (one or two students and the instructor). For most students the Plan culminates in a written thesis although art and science students may pursue other projects. However, all plans must include a written portion consituting at least twenty percent of the total plan work. In addition, all plans must include an independent project prepared without direct faculty input, also constituting at least twenty percent of the total plan. Plans that consist entirely of academic writing usually range from one hundred to two hundred pages double-spaced.

The results of this work are defended in an oral examination before two Marlboro professors, and one outside evaluator who has expertise in the student's field of study but is not connected with the college. The presence of the outside evaluator is meant to ensure that the grading process is fair and objective. The final plan is then put on permanent file as a reference work in the college library.

Community

Because of Marlboro's small size the school tends to emphasize community participation and values. A monthly "town meeting" allows all community members to gather and vote to change the college bylaws. An elected community court dispenses justice when necessary. Different elected committees, consisting of students faculty and staff, help to hire faculty (or even college presidents) and steer the curriculum, among many other responsibilities.

The school maintains very minimal security measures in order to promote attitudes of trust and responsibility on campus. Most buildings are unlocked 24 hours a day. The library is also open all night and uses a self-checkout honor system to keep track of borrowed materials.

Because of its isolation Marlboro's social life is largely self contained and centers primarily around small student organized events or parties. Students are nearly all liberal in their political alignment, but the campus is shared by a diversity of friendly neo-hippies, proud science or asian studies nerds, empowered GLBT students, a few cynical hipsters, and many other lovely sub-groups. Marlboro students are generally not very interested in athletics, although the school does have a few basic sports teams and promotes outdoor nature-oriented sports through its "Outdoor Program." Community life is also shaped heavily by a long Vermont winter, which phases or annoys many students.

Statistics

* An average of 67% of the school's relatively self-selecting applicant pool is accepted. The middle 50% range of SAT I scores (for 2005) was 1040-1310 out of 1600 possible points.
* 68% of alumni go on to graduate school. [1]
* 46% of alumni contribute money to the college [2]

Marlboro College: Encyclopedia BETA

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Marlboro College