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Our Students and Alumni/ae

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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.

Who Is the Class of 2025?

  • Incoming Students
    First-year students: 473
    Public high school: 57%
    Independent high school: 29%
    Religious high school: 9%
    Charter high school: 4%
    Homeschool (partial or complete): 1%
     
  • US Geographic Distribution 
    New England: 17%
    Mid-Atlantic: 44%*
    South/Southeast: 10%
    Southwest: 3%
    Midwest: 7%
    West: 19%
    *New York: 31%

    Percentage of the Class 
    International/US-Dual Citizens:
    14%

    States: 37 
    Countries: 35
  • Ethnic Diversity
    African American/Black: 6%
    Asian: 11%
    Hispanic/Latino: 12%
    Multiracial: 8%
    Native American/Alaskan Native: 1%
    Native Hawaiian/or other Pacific Islander: 1%
    White/non-Hispanic: 64%
    Unknown: 8%

    *Race/ethnicity does not total 100% because students are able to select more than one race/ethnicity. 
Class of 2025
Photo: Karl Rabe

Class of 2025

Bard College’s Class of 2025 was selected from a large and competitive applicant pool, indicating their extraordinary promise. They are a high-achieving group, with wide-ranging interests and varied backgrounds. Our first-year students come to Annandale-on-Hudson from 37 states and 35 countries, bringing with them their passion, creativity, and intellectual engagement.

Our Students

Matt Sprague

Matt Sprague

Bard senior Matt Sprague is studying food systems and inequality through the power of a sandwich.

Matt's Story >>

  • Cat and Ben's Story >>
    When Catherine Baum started looking at colleges, Bard was on her radar: her older brother, Ben, was already a Bard student.
  • Sara's Story >>
    Sara Xing Eisenberg grew up in Manhattan and attended the Bard High School Early College.
  • Abiba's Story >>
    Biology major Abiba Salahou talks about the importance of speaking up and getting involved on campus. 

More Student Stories

Academic Snapshot: Time and Credits at Bard

The academic year is divided into two 15-week semesters.
Most classes are 4 semester hours of academic credit.
128 credits are required for the bachelor's degree.
The average semester course load is 16 credits.

Bard by the Numbers

  • College Facts

    Academic 
    (2020-2021)

    1,019 classes
    Tutorials: 124
    Student/faculty ratio: 9:1

    Class size: 
    2–9 students: 31%
    10–19 students: 56%
    20–29 students: 10%
    30–39 students: 1.7%
    More than 36 students: 1.3%

    Faculty 
    Total: 267
    Identifies as female: 44.6%
    Identifies as male: 55.4%
    Faculty of color: 14%
    Full-time faculty with a terminal degree: 81%

    SAT/ACT
    Bard College has been test optional for over 40 years.

    Application Fee
    There is NO application fee to apply to Bard College!
     
  • Tuition and Aid

    Financial Aid

    Total Bard Scholarship aid awarded:
    $64 million

    (2021-2022)

    Average debt: $29,270
    (those who graduated in May 2020)

    — Class of 2025 —

    Received Bard institutional aid: 84%

    Average Bard institutional aid: $51,369

    Average aid package total: $55,523
    (includes loans, work study, and grants)
    The class of 2025 received aid in the following categories: 6% loans, 1% work study, 93% grants.

    Total Bard aid to first years  $19.6 million 

    Pell Grant recipients: 27%

    Fees 
    Tuition: $57,498
    Room and board: $16,760
    Fall 2021 Language and Thinking (L&T) Meal Plan: $1,056
    Spring 2022 Citizen Science Meal Plan: $704
    Health Service: $470
    Security deposit: $225
    Total first year: $76,713

    *Note that there are additional costs if students acquire Bard's tuition refund insurance and/or Bard's health insurance.
    bard.edu/studentaccounts/policies

  • Other Notable Stats

    Over 50% of Bard students study away

    75% students involved in programs or projects in civic engagement, community service, Trustee Leader Scholars (TLS), or student club or activity

    Over 90% of Bard students are either employed, in graduate school, or pursuing scholarships--such as, Watson or Fulbright, within 6 months of graduating

    Graduate schools include: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Oxford, Cambridge, Dartmouth, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, London School of Economics, Georgia Tech, Carnegie Mellon, UC Davis, UC Berkeley, Juilliard

About Campus: Rachel Explores Ward Manor

Rachel is a Bard College student in the Psychology Program. She visits one of the landmarks of Bard's campus: Ward Manor, often called simply "Manor." The porch behind Manor is a prime spot to study, enjoy a meal from the Manor Cafe, or connect with friends. The porch boasts a view of the iconic Stargon sculpture (affectionately called "The Bunny Ears"), the Bard Farm, and the Catskill Mountains in the background.

Video Gallery

Why I Chose Bard

Why choose Bard College? The unique and rigorous curriculum, stunning campus, and close relationships with faculty are a few of the reasons our students decided to make Bard their home. Hear them talk about what drew them to the college in the beginning and the scholarly, creative community they've found on campus since.

Student News


Four Bard College Students Win Prestigious Gilman International Scholarships to Study Abroad
Four Bard College students, Asyl Almaz ’24, Nandi Woodfork-Bey ’22, Grant Venable ’24, and Azriel Almodovar ’24, have been awarded highly competitive Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships by the U.S. Department of State. Gilman Scholars receive up to $5,000, or up to $8,000 if also a recipient of the Gilman Critical Need Language Award, to apply toward their study abroad or internship program costs. The recipients of this cycle’s Gilman scholarships are American undergraduate students attending 536 U.S. colleges and represent 49 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, who will study or intern in 91 countries around the globe through April 2023. 

Four Bard College Students Win Prestigious Gilman International Scholarships to Study Abroad

Clockwise, from top left: Asyl Almaz (photo by Phu Nguyen), Azriel Almodovar, Nandi Woodfork-Bey (photo by Lamphone Souvannaphoungeun), Grant Venable.
Four Bard College students have been awarded highly competitive Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships by the U.S. Department of State. Gilman Scholars receive up to $5,000, or up to $8,000 if also a recipient of the Gilman Critical Need Language Award, to apply toward their study abroad or internship program costs. The recipients of this cycle’s Gilman scholarships are American undergraduate students attending 536 U.S. colleges and represent 49 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, who will study or intern in 91 countries around the globe through April 2023. 

Computer science and Asian studies joint major Asyl Almaz ’24, from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, has been awarded $4,000 towards her studies via Bard’s Tuition Exchange at Waseda University in Tokyo for fall 2022. “Coming from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, it has not been an easy journey immersing myself into a different culture when I moved to America for college—let alone another one. I am so incredibly grateful to receive the Gilman scholarship to be able to spend a semester in Waseda. This will ensure that I will be able to not only step foot in another country and learn so many new things about Asian history and culture, but also to be able to afford the expenses that I will have to pay there,” said Almaz.

Music and Asian studies joint major Nandi Woodfork-Bey ’22, from Sacramento, California, has been awarded $3,500 to study at the American College of Greece for fall 2022. “I’m immensely grateful to have received the Gilman Scholarship. I look forward to spending a semester abroad in Greece as I expand and diversify my studies in music and culture. Studying abroad will help me build the global and professional skills needed to succeed in my future endeavors, and I’m thankful that the Gilman program has further helped me achieve this opportunity” said Woodfork-Bey.

Theater major Grant Venable ’24, from Sherman Oaks, California, received a Gilman-DAAD scholarship and has been awarded $5,000 to study at Bard College Berlin for fall 2022. “I am honored to be able to attend Bard College in Berlin with the help of the Gilman scholarship. This scholarship will allow me to pursue my passion for theater and challenge my work as a performance artist through my studies in Berlin,” said Venable.

Philosophy major Azriel Almodovar ’24, from Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, has been awarded $3,500 to study in Taormina, Italy on Bard’s Italian Language Intensive program in summer 2022. “Thanks to the Gilman Scholarship, I am able to study abroad with no financial issues and really take advantage of all that the Italian Intensive Program has to offer. I am very grateful for being a recipient and look forward to my time abroad,” said Almodovar.

Since the program’s establishment in 2001, over 1,350 U.S. institutions have sent more than 34,000 Gilman Scholars of diverse backgrounds to 155 countries around the globe. The program has successfully broadened U.S. participation in study abroad, while emphasizing countries and regions where fewer Americans traditionally study. 

As Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said, “People-to-people exchanges bring our world closer together and convey the best of America to the world, especially to its young people.”

The late Congressman Gilman, for whom the scholarship is named, served in the House of Representatives for 30 years and chaired the House Foreign Relations Committee. When honored with the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Medal in 2002, he said, “Living and learning in a vastly different environment of another nation not only exposes our students to alternate views but adds an enriching social and cultural experience. It also provides our students with the opportunity to return home with a deeper understanding of their place in the world, encouraging them to be a contributor, rather than a spectator in the international community.”

The Gilman Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and is supported in its implementation by the Institute of International Education (IIE). To learn more, visit: gilmanscholarship.org

Post Date: 05-16-2022
Five Bard College Students Win Fulbright Awards
Five Bard College students have won Fulbright Awards for individually designed research projects, graduate study, and English teaching assistantships. During their grants, Fulbrighters meet, work, live with and learn from the people of the host country, sharing daily experiences. The program facilitates cultural exchange through direct interaction on an individual basis in the classroom, field, home, and in routine tasks, allowing the grantee to gain an appreciation of others’ viewpoints and beliefs, the way they do things, and the way they think. Bard College is a Fulbright top producing institution.

Five Bard College Students Win Fulbright Awards

Clockwise, from top left: Maya Frieden ’22, Lance Sum ’21, Mercer Greenwald ’22, Jordan Donohue ’22, Paola Luchsinger ’20.

 
Five Bard College students have won Fulbright Awards for individually designed research projects, graduate study, and English teaching assistantships. During their grants, Fulbrighters meet, work, live with and learn from the people of the host country, sharing daily experiences. The program facilitates cultural exchange through direct interaction on an individual basis in the classroom, field, home, and in routine tasks, allowing the grantee to gain an appreciation of others’ viewpoints and beliefs, the way they do things, and the way they think. Bard College is a Fulbright top producing institution.

Mercer Greenwald ’22, a German Studies major from Williamstown, MA, has won a Fulbright Research and Teaching Assistantship Award in Austria for the 2022–23 academic year. As a Combined Research and Teaching Fulbright Scholar, Greenwald will spend the year immersed in the cultural life of the city of Vienna, where she will teach English and write an independent research project on the topic of “concomitant being” in the work of Austrian writer and thinker Ingeborg Bachmann (1926-1973) and the Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector (1920–1977). Greenwald will begin doctoral study in Germanic Languages and Literatures at Harvard University in the fall of 2023.

Maya Frieden ’22 (they/them), an art history and visual culture major, has won a Fulbright Study/Research Award to support graduate study in the Netherlands for the 2022–23 academic year. Frieden will spend the year in the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam’s Master’s program, Art & Culture: Design Cultures. “I have often questioned the sustainability of the current pace at which the design industry is progressing. Embedded within every designed element--from object design to urban design--are intentions that can be sensed, even subtly, by those encountering them, and they frequently symbolize and materialize exclusionary or prohibitive ideologies,” says Frieden. “The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam’s Master’s program, Art & Culture: Design Cultures, understands the significance of historical, sociological and environmental research within the field of design, training students with the skills to interpret, discuss and interact with the discipline, so that we will be equipped to contribute in quickening the pace. By studying in this Master’s program, I will develop additional strategies for noticing the presence or absence of sensitivity within design, while also improving my capabilities for communicating such analyses, and working with those in positions that influence how our world is designed.”

Paola Luchsinger ’20, a Spanish major from Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, has won a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship Award in Greece for the 2022–23 academic year. She will spend the year in Athens teaching English elementary through secondary students at Athens College–Hellenic American Educational Foundation. “As an English Teaching Assistant in Greece, I hope to gain an idea of Greek perceptions of American culture while also representing a positive image of the United States. I have chosen Greece as my destination because a year in Greece will give me the opportunity to become fluent in Greek through immersion and improve my knowledge of modern Greek society,” says Luchsinger.

Lance Sum ’21 (BHSEC Manhattan ’19), an anthropology major from Brooklyn, NY, won a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship Award in Taiwan for the 2022–23 academic year. He intended to teach English and participate in intensive outdoor adventures, explore large influential cultural institutions in the major cities of Taiwan, host peer review writing and poetry sessions, and educate his Taiwanese community members about his experience in growing up in New York City. “I think Taiwan could offer me a more magnified perspective of a community who has preserved their own culture through much political and colonial pressure, an experience that would help me develop my cultural understanding for others,” says Sum.

Jordan Donohue ’22, a historical studies major, won a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship Award in Brazil for the 2022–23 academic year. She will spend in the year teaching English and deepening her knowledge around music and farming. Continuing her past work with Indigenous groups internationally, she plans to engage with and learn from the Indigenous populations of Brazil. Additionally, Jordan has studied Portuguese for seven years and will utilize her time as a Fulbright scholar to advance her fluency and prepare for further academic research on the language and culture of Brazil.

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program expands perspectives through academic and professional advancement and cross-cultural dialogue. Fulbright creates connections in a complex and changing world. In partnership with more than 140 countries worldwide, the Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers unparalleled opportunities in all academic disciplines to passionate and accomplished graduating college seniors, graduate students, and young professionals from all backgrounds. Program participants pursue graduate study, conduct research, or teach English abroad. us.fulbrightonline.org.

Post Date: 04-19-2022
Two Bard College Seniors Win Prestigious Watson Travel Fellowships
Bard College seniors Ashley Eugley ’22 and Andy Garcia ’22 have been awarded prestigious Thomas J. Watson Fellowships, which provide for a year of travel and exploration outside the United States. Continuing its tradition of expanding the vision and developing the potential of remarkable young leaders, the Watson Foundation selected Eugley and Garcia as two of 42 students to receive this award for 2022-23. Each Watson Fellow receives a grant of $36,000 for 12 months of travel and independent study. Over the past several years, 24 Bard seniors have received Watson fellowships.

Two Bard College Seniors Win Prestigious Watson Travel Fellowships

L-R: Ashley Eugley ’22 and Andy Garcia ’22. Photos by Ashley Eugley ’22 and Eli Jensen ’22
Bard College seniors Ashley Eugley ’22 and Andy Garcia ’22 have been awarded prestigious Thomas J. Watson Fellowships, which provide for a year of travel and exploration outside the United States. Continuing its tradition of expanding the vision and developing the potential of remarkable young leaders, the Watson Foundation selected Eugley and Garcia as two of 42 students to receive this award for 2022-23. The Watson fellowship offers college graduates of unusual promise a year of independent, purposeful exploration and travel—in international settings new to them—to enhance their capacity for resourcefulness, imagination, openness, and leadership and to foster their humane and effective participation in the world community. Each Watson Fellow receives a grant of $36,000 for 12 months of travel and independent study. Over the past several years, 24 Bard seniors have received Watson fellowships. 

Ashley Eugley ’22, from South Bristol, Maine, will challenge the hegemony of conventional, top-down scientific approaches by exploring community science initiatives in across four continents. She will work directly with communities and nonprofit organizations, seeking to learn how participatory science efforts diverge from the paradigmatic model and how they are leveraged to monitor change, combat environmental injustice, enhance resilience, and bolster agency. An Environmental and Urban Studies major with a focus on economics, policy, and global development, Eugley says: “Environment is everything: it is a determinant of health, happiness, and agency. Unfortunately, communities across the world lack access to clean air, potable water, and uncontaminated soil, factors that are essential to environmental security and justice. Rather than passively enabling environmental inequality to persist, communities can use participatory science to monitor hazards and leverage their findings to advocate for justice. This approach diverges from the mainstream paradigm of institutionalized science by empowering non-experts to use accessible scientific approaches to enhance their knowledge, resilience, and agency.” She will spend her Watson year in South Africa, Brazil, Australia, and Ireland

Andy Garcia ’22, from New York City, will visually theorize, through a photographic lens, what the present and future of the African diaspora would be if colonization and slavery had not occurred. Using using their 23andMe results as an itinerary, Garcia will confront the sinister colonial history that has caused fractures and gaps in the understanding of identity in African diasporic descendants. A photography major, Garcia says: “African diasporic people have ended up in these places as a result of immigration, expatriation, and slavery. In creating a visual Afro-futurist media grounded in my lens as a person whose identity has been fractured by colonialism and slavery, I will materialize theories on the future of the African diaspora. This engagement with my ancestral history will enable me to rethink notions of identity beyond just connections to land in a global history marked by forced and coerced immigration.” They will spend their Watson year in Spain, France, Nigeria, Senegal, Egypt and, hopefully Pakistan.

A Watson Year provides fellows with an opportunity to test their aspirations and abilities through a personal project cultivated on an international scale. Watson Fellows have gone on to become leaders in their fields including CEOs of major corporations, college presidents, Emmy, Grammy and Oscar Award winners, Pulitzer Prize awardees, artists, diplomats, doctors, entrepreneurs, faculty, journalists, lawyers, politicians, researchers and inspiring influencers around the world. Following the year, they join a community of peers who provide a lifetime of support and inspiration. More than 3000 Watson Fellows have been named since the inaugural class in 1969. For more information about the Watson Fellowship, visit: https://watson.foundation.

Post Date: 04-05-2022

Life After Bard

Bardians Are Everywhere
Photo by Karl Rabe

Bardians Are Everywhere

Whether working in Annandale or Berlin, in sustainable agriculture or in a tech startup, Bard alumni/ae make a difference. Bardians are changing the way the world works, taking Bard's commitment to innovation and engagement worldwide. Being a Bardian means having an impact, wherever you may be and whatever type of work you're called to do. Look for members of the Bard community. You'll find us in your favorite films, your most ambitious business ventures, and your most innovative educational institutions.

Staying Connected After Graduation
Bard Awards 2019, photo by Karl Rabe.

Staying Connected After Graduation

Bardians take great pride in their alma mater and support Bard in any way they can, whether by recommending new students, making a gift to the College, or offering professional mentoring to current students and young alums. There are lots of ways to stay connected to Bard after graduation:
Alumni/ae Association
The Bardian and Other Alumni/ae News
Career Development Office

Career Development On Campus and Beyond

Bard supports students' professional development during their years in Annandale and after graduation. The Career Development Office offers a range of internship and job resources, and hosts events that connect students with various professions, alumni/ae, and employers. Bard Works is an intensive, weeklong program for juniors and seniors at Bard College that prepares them for work after graduation. The Center for Civic Engagement helps students secure internships, find service-learning opportunities, and design their own projects.

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