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Campus Tours
You love to learn. You've always asked the difficult questions.
Now you wonder where college can take you. If you're ready to refine your talents and find what inspires you, then you've come to the right place. Explore Bard's rich academic tradition and vibrant campus life. Think beyond what is known to seek what is possible.
Launch Experience

Ways to Visit Bard
We are offering a variety of ways to visit campus: in-person campus tours, self-guided walking tours,
audio-guided driving tours, and live virtual tours. 
Learn More

Admitted Students Day
Photo by Najma Sael ’24

Admitted Students Day

April 15, 2023

Attention Admitted Students! This year, Admitted Students Day is on April 15! This day includes a huge range of events to choose from where students can meet faculty, staff, and current Bard students.
Registration is required and attendance is limited to admitted students and their guests. More details and registration link to come!

A Brief Introduction to Bard College

Director of Admission Mackie Siebens ’12 will take you through some important facts about Bard. The 1000-acre campus in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, is the hub of a wider, global network. Learn more about Bard and see if you can find yourself here! Click here to join our mailing list or here to contact your regional admission counselor! 

Introducción a Bard College
巴德学院简介

Did You Know?

  • Bard College has been test optional for nearly 50 years.
    You do not need to take the SAT or ACT to apply to Bard.

    THERE IS NO APPLICATION FEE TO APPLY TO BARD COLLEGE.
Why We Don't Give “Merit Aid”
Photo by Karl Rabe

Why We Don't Give “Merit Aid”

The College is a need-based aid only institution and prioritizes its financial aid for students who could not afford to enroll without the College’s support.

Bard College is devoted to expanding access to high caliber liberal arts education and has made significant efforts to develop innovative programs with this goal in mind. Historically, Bard has stood up to inequities in the traditional college application process that perpetuate inequality, and is a leader in reimagining college access. 

Notably, the College has maintained its test optional policy for almost 50 years and does not require applicants to take or submit SAT or ACT test scores in order to apply. Bard understands the inequity built into the standardized testing industry, and has for decades been able to identify successful candidates without them. Applications are read in their entirety by multiple staff members before being reviewed by committee. Bard also does not participate in the widespread purchasing of names, most often based on standardized test scores, which many institutions use to boost their selectivity figures. Each application to Bard is given a thorough, personal review, adhering to the College’s belief that a student's achievements and potential cannot be summarized by a test score.

Why We Don't Give “Merit Aid”

This year, with the support of donors who believe strongly in expanding access, Bard launched a new initiative that removes our application fee. Students may now apply to Bard College free of charge using the Common Application or the Bard Entrance Exam. More information about Bard’s application methods can be found here. 

The College is a need-based aid-only institution and prioritizes its financial aid for students who could not afford to enroll without the College’s support. Merit-based aid often leads to higher discount rates for students of means who can afford the full cost of high-quality education on their own at the expense of those with the least means. Using “merit aid” as a euphemism for funding to high-income applicants runs counter to our institutional ideals. Bard College believes in the benefit of bringing the best students together in the classroom, regardless of their ability to pay. As such, Bard will not participate in the unfair distribution of resources encouraged by merit aid scholarships.

Equity and Inclusion Programs at Bard
Peer mentors in Bard's Equity and Inclusion Programs.

Equity and Inclusion Programs at Bard

SCHOLARSHIPS · MENTORING · COMMUNITY
Equity and Inclusion Programs at Bard College support scholars from a variety of backgrounds who seek to attain a rigorous liberal arts education. With the guidance of professional staff and peer mentors, scholars create a path of personal and academic success at Bard.

Complete the form below if you qualify for one of the following: Bard’s High School Early College Opportunity (ECO) program; the New York State Higher Education Opportunity (HEOP) program; or Bard’s Opportunity Program (BOP). You can find more information within the scholarship form or on the Office of Equity and Inclusion website.

Apply Now

Engaged Learning in the Classroom and Beyond

From our first-year components—Language and Thinking, Citizen Science, 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. Working in small classes with an outstanding faculty, Bard students thrive. Connected both to New York City and to a global network of programs, the College enables students to engage the world from state-of-the-art facilities on our stunning 1,000-acre Hudson River Valley campus.

Guilds at Bard

The Guilds at Bard

The Guilds are an exciting new opportunity at Bard! This program invites Bard students to expand on the skills learned in the classroom and apply them to hands-on manual creation. The first two guilds focus on Horticulture and Carpentry and beyond. (In fact, we just changed the Carpentry Guild name to Makers & Builders Guild because it allows for a wider range of skills acquisition, e.g. stained glass, plumbing, furniture-making, restoration.) We look forward to integrating the Guilds further into the academic community as this fledgling program develops.

Discover Bard

  • How to Apply
    Common Application? Early Decision? International Admission?
    Get Started Now
  • Student Stories
    Bard students break the boundary between the classroom and public life.
    Meet Our Students
  • Our Faculty
    Bard’s extraordinary faculty are dedicated to the philosophy of teaching.
    Learn More
  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
    We embrace plurality, divergent viewpoints, and the rich spectrum of our community.
    DEI at Bard
  • Testing image caption
    Ask a Student
    Get a current student's take on campus life, from first-year seminar to Bard clubs.
    Get in Touch
  • Academics
    The College seeks to engender in every student a wide curiosity and love of learning.
    Our Curriculum

When It Comes to Future Earnings,
Liberal Arts Grads Might Get the Last Laugh

Students from liberal arts colleges don’t merely recoup their tuition dollars in the long run.
They eventually earn more than those who attended trade or business schools, a new report shows.

—The Chronicle of Higher Education, Bennett Leckrone, January 14, 2020

Read the Article (PDF)
Bard by the Numbers

Bard by the Numbers

Read about Bard's student profile, campus stats, tuition, and financial aid.

Learn More

  • 1,800
    undergraduates
  • 9:1
    student-faculty ratio
  • 17%
    international students/
    dual citizens
     
  • $64+m
    distributed
    in Bard aid
     

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."
— Bard College President Leon Botstein

Read More

About Campus:

Max Explores the Fisher Center at Bard College

Max is a Bard alum who graduated with a BA in music. Max talks about the Fisher Center, Bard's Frank Gehry–designed center for the performing arts on North Campus.

For more videos about Bard visit our:

Video Gallery

Podcast Series

Learn more about Bard College’s academic life, student life, and admission process directly from students, faculty, and staff.
Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts!

  • The Bard Admission Process
    Audio Transcript PDF
  • Bard's Location
    Audio Transcript PDF
  • Disability Services
    Audio Transcript PDF
  • Center for Civic Engagement
    Audio Transcript PDF
  • The Bard TLS Program
    Audio Transcript PDF
  • Citizen Science
    Audio Transcript PDF
  • First Year Seminar 
    Audio Transcript PDF
  • Equity and Inclusion 
    Audio Transcription PDF
  • About the Bard Library
    Audio Transcription PDF
  • Student Life 
    Audio Transcription PDF
  • Athletics at Bard
    Audio Transcript PDF
  • Residence Life
    Audio Transcript PDF
  • Safety and Security 
    Audio Transcript PDF
  • Bard Architecture Program
    Audio Transcription PDF
  • Classical Studies Program
    Audio Transcript PDF
  • Bard Conservatory of Music
    Audio Transcript PDF
  • Bard's Performing Arts Center
    Audio Transcript PDF
  • Music Program
    Audio Transcript PDF
  • Musical Theater
    Audio Transcript PDF
  • Voting at Bard
    Audio Transcript PDF
  • BRAVE
    Audio Transcript PDF
  • The Bard Farm
    Audio Transcript PDF
  • Montgomery Place at Bard
    Audio Transcript PDF
  • The Bard Prison Initiative
    Audio Transcript PDF
  • Ghost Stories 
    Audio Transcript PDF
Discover More

Discover More

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.

Life after Bard

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Phone: 845-758-6822
Admission E-mail: [email protected]
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