Admission

Admission

You love to learn.
You’ve always asked the difficult questions. 
Now you wonder where college can take you.
Bard will give you a home to refine your talents and find what inspires you. Pursue diverse academic offerings and take part in vibrant campus life. A Bard education expands what is possible. 
Save the Dates for our 2026 Fall Events!

Save the Dates for our 2026 Fall Events!

Fall Open House: Saturday, September 26
Spend the day exploring what makes Bard Bard. You’ll see campus in full fall color, meet the people who support our students, and learn how Bard’s liberal arts and sciences prepare graduates for what’s next.
Register for Fall Open House
Launch Welcome!

 

Ready to take the next steps?

Admission and Financial Aid at Bard

  • We are committed to an equal and accessible application process.
    • We meet full demonstrated need (Tuition, Food and Housing, First Year Academic Programming if applicable and Required Fees) for all early round admitted students and work closely with families to make Bard affordable.
    • Bard has been test-optional for over 50 years.
    • You don't need to take the SATs or ACT to apply to Bard.
    • Bard offers Early Action, Early Decision, Early Decision II, Regular Decision, and the Immediate Decision Plan for admission.
    • Apply through the Common Application, Coalition with Scoir, or by completing the Bard Entrance Examination.
    • There is no application fee to apply to Bard. 
    Apply Now →
  • Merit Aid
    Though the large majority of Bard’s scholarship aid is granted exclusively based on financial need, beginning with the Fall 2025 admission cycle, Bard is offering a limited number of competitive merit scholarships to students who demonstrate academic excellence alongside a substantive commitment to community leadership and civic engagement. Priority is given to students who are not eligible for federal need-based financial aid. The average merit scholarship award is $10,000 per academic year.
    Learn More About Bard Financial Aid →

Discover More About Bard

How to Apply Academics at Bard
Student Stories Our Faculty
Civic Engagement Our Campus
Meet Our Students Life After Bard
Bard College seeks to inspire curiosity, a love of learning, idealism, and a commitment to the link between higher education and civic participation. From its historic Hudson Valley setting to its state-of-the-art science and arts facilities, the College offers an idyllic environment where students can enjoy a rich social life interwoven with their cultural and intellectual pursuits.

How to Apply

Every Bard applicant is unique, so we offer multiple ways to apply. You only need to choose how and when.
How:

  • Common Application
  • Coalition with Scoir
  • The Bard Entrance Exam
When: 
  • November 1 — Immediate Decision Plan, Early Decision I, Early Action, The Bard Entrance Exam
  • January 1 — Early Decision II, Regular Decision
Get Started on the Application Process

Academics at Bard

Academics at Bard focus on giving students a strong scholarly foundation with our rigorous core curriculum, then encouraging them to explore individual academic interests. The College seeks to engender in every student a wide curiosity and a profound love of learning. Professors at Bard are active in their disciplines, producing new scholarly work and engaging in ongoing research, and the level of academic discourse in the classroom is high.
Explore Our Academic Programs

Student Stories

Students come from across the country and around the globe to study at Bard. While pursuing their degrees in a broad range of academic programs, they volunteer in the community, develop their career goals, and bring their talents to the campus and the region. For Bard students, education goes well beyond the classroom. They all share a love of learning and a readiness to make their mark on the world.
Meet Our Students
 

Our Faculty

Bard’s extraordinary faculty are dedicated to the philosophy of teaching. Today and throughout Bard’s history, members of the faculty have effected change in medicine, the arts and letters, international affairs, journalism, scientific research, and education, among other endeavors. These distinguished scholars are advisers as well as instructors: Bard has no graduate teaching assistants. 
Learn More About Our Faculty

Civic Engagement

The Center for Civic Engagement at Bard College coordinates a broad range of initiatives that connect students to internships, volunteer opportunities, community engagement, and activism. Bard students tap into their own idealism and vision, developing civic skills that are fundamental for active citizenship.
Learn More About Civic Engagement
 

Our Campus

Bard’s campus covers approximately 1,200 acres of fields and forested land bordering the Hudson River in New York State, and features such state-of-the-art facilities as the Gabrielle H. Reem and Herbert J. Kayden Center for Science and Computation, Center for Experimental Humanities at New Annandale House, and Frank Gehry–designed Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts. The campus is a center from which students explore the rich natural and cultural life of the Hudson Valley and also have access by car or train to New York City, about 90 miles to the south.
Explore Campus Life

Meet Our Students

Students come from across the country and around the globe to study at Bard. They undertake a broad range of academic programs in Annandale. While pursuing their degrees, they volunteer in the community, develop their career goals, and bring their talents to the campus and the region. They share a love of learning and the leadership to make their mark on the world.
Chat with our Students now

Life After Bard

Whether working in Annandale or Berlin, in sustainable agriculture or in a tech startup, Bardians make a difference. Learn about Bard alumni/ae in the world, and how Bard supports graduates.
Learn More About Our Alumni/ae Network

Bard by the Numbers

  • Bard admission is selective with an acceptance rate of 39.7%. Read more about Bard’s student profile, campus stats, tuition, and financial aid. 
    Student Class Profile →
  • 1,900
    undergraduates    		 8:1
    student–faculty ratio
    14.5%
    international students/
    dual citizens    		 $73 million
    distributed
    in Bard aid

Connect with Bard

  • Ask a Student
    Get a current student’s take on campus life, from First-Year Seminar to Bard clubs. We invite all prospective undergraduate students to connect with current Bard students via our chat platform. Get your questions answered and make your first friend at Bard!
    Get Started on Chat Now
  • Contact Your Regional Admission Counselor
    Our staff is here to introduce you to Bard and guide you through the application process. Contact our office if you have questions. We're here to help!
    Reach Out Now
Engaged Learning in the Classroom and Beyond

Engaged Learning in the Classroom and Beyond

From our first-year components—Language and Thinking and First-Year Seminar—to the Senior Project, Bard’s unique curriculum combines rigor and flexibility. Students take control of their education while immersing themselves in dynamic programs of study and engaging with their peers and the community at large.
The Bard Curriculum →

Important Admission Deadlines

  • November 1
    • Application Deadline for Early Decision, Early Action and The Bard Entrance Exam
    • Immediate Decision Plan (Registration Deadline) 
    • Financial Aid Deadline for International Early Applicants 
    • Financial Aid Deadline for Immediate Decision Plan

    December 1
    • Financial Aid Deadline for US Early Applicants
  • January 15
    • Application Deadline for Early Decision II and Regular Decision
    • Financial Aid Deadline for International Early Decision II or Regular Decision Applicants

    February 1
    • Financial Aid Deadline for US Early Decision II or Regular Decision Applicants
    • Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Deadline for all Applicants

The Love of Learning

  • “The university can be a center for and a model of cultural creation, debate, service, and political exchange among citizens of the future, one that is dominated not by commerce and a narrow definition of utility, but by a love of learning.”
    — Leon Botstein, Leon Levy Professor in the Arts and Humanities
  • Continue Reading→

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