Bard College and its Campus Receive Glowing Coverage by the Princeton Review
Bard Campus in the fall. Photo by Joseph Nartey
The Princeton Review published a video essay titled “An Inside Look at Bard College.” Rob Franek, editor-in-chief of the Princeton Review, visited the Annandale campus to hear from students and witness what academic life is like at Bard. The video piece describes Bard as a place “where academic excellence, creative exploration, and a close-knit campus community come together to create a distinctive college experience.” The Princeton Review is a prominent education services company not affiliated with Princeton University, providing test-preparation services, tutoring and admissions resources, online courses, and books.
Franek described meeting Bard students studying a wide range of disciplines, from opera to physics. These students get “a chance to take on serious original work with close faculty guidance and mentorship,” he writes. In addition to the beautiful campus, the intentionality of curriculum, programs, and level of discourse between students and professors, he also praised the interdisciplinary, heterodox academic culture of Bard. “Choosing a major at Bard is far from simply checking a box on a form saying, ‘okay, I guess I'm going to major in history,’” said Franek. “At Bard, students are making an intellectual case for where they've been and where they want to go … The final question isn't simply, ‘what classes did you take?’ It becomes, ‘what can you do with everything that you've learned?’”
Post Date: 11-04-2026
Franek described meeting Bard students studying a wide range of disciplines, from opera to physics. These students get “a chance to take on serious original work with close faculty guidance and mentorship,” he writes. In addition to the beautiful campus, the intentionality of curriculum, programs, and level of discourse between students and professors, he also praised the interdisciplinary, heterodox academic culture of Bard. “Choosing a major at Bard is far from simply checking a box on a form saying, ‘okay, I guess I'm going to major in history,’” said Franek. “At Bard, students are making an intellectual case for where they've been and where they want to go … The final question isn't simply, ‘what classes did you take?’ It becomes, ‘what can you do with everything that you've learned?’”
Post Date: 11-04-2026