Bringing Your Passions Into Focus
Our academic programs are demanding, exciting, and designed to support your growth—because the journey matters as much as the destination.
At Simon’s Rock, excitement about learning is right where it belongs — at the center of everything.
During and after class, you’ll get swept up in discussions with peers who share your commitment to intellectual curiosity. Along the way, you’ll develop an individualized plan of study that combines course work in your favorite subjects, world-expanding opportunities both on and off-campus, and, ultimately, the completion of your own senior thesis.
Rockers choose early college because they want to be challenged. For the first time, you’ll have ownership over your educational development, as we give you the support to imagine, design, and plan your individual path.
A Foundation for Learning About Anything
Get ready to embark on a broad range of profound intellectual experiences. We don’t sequester knowledge within specialties at Simon’s Rock. Instead, we explore connections among diverse areas of study. Through intensive reading, writing, and reflection, you’ll hone your critical thinking skills. Through laboratory, studio and field experiences, you’ll put those skills into practice. Your education won’t focus on getting the right answers. It’ll teach you to ask the right questions, synthesize ideas, and solve problems — skills you’ll use the rest of your life. It’ll support your development as an individual thinker and creator who graduates ready to make a difference.
“…The jobs that will exist 20 years from now — they haven’t been invented yet. How do you prepare people for jobs that don’t exist? And the answer is, you teach them to learn for themselves for the rest of their lives. You teach them to think for themselves, and that’s what we try and do…”
— Bernard Rogers,
Emeritus Faculty in Literature
Explore Subjects You Love
With over 35 majors, dozens of special programs, study abroad opportunities, internships, and partnerships, studying at Simon’s Rock increases your options and opportunities both in and after school.
Whether you’re studying a new subject or diving into your specialty, your studies at Simon’s Rock will bring you face-to-face with big concepts, essential texts, deep and high-spirited discussion, advanced research, and contemporary scholarship.
Educators Who Appreciate You
The faculty at Simon’s Rock are a lot like you — deeply curious, constantly questioning assumptions, and passionately dedicated to their interests. They facilitate small, intense, exhilarating classes with lots of individual attention, where you’ll be expected to read texts and approach assignments actively, independently, and creatively.
You’ll discover rather quickly that your instructors are active scholars and practitioners in their fields of study, who also happen to be amazing advisors, collaborators, counselors, nurturers, and mentors. As your ideas collide, combine, and feed off one another, you’ll come to think of them — and they’ll come to think of you — as especially bright and interesting colleagues.
“The professors here care so much about what we’re learning, and they care about our well-being too. And they’re so willing to do whatever it takes to make sure you succeed.”
— Bethany Geiger, ’10
We’ve Got Your Back, Always
It takes courage to leave high school early to begin college. But when you do, it won’t be on your own. From residence hall to classroom, we have dedicated staff and systems in place to help you adjust to your new surroundings.
Right away, you’ll start meeting with an academic advisor who’ll help you tackle challenges in and out of the classroom. Peer tutors, notoriously helpful librarians, and other special staff round out the rest of a tremendous community that wants you to succeed.
Learn More About Academics
Languages and Literature
- Chinese
- Creative Writing
- French and Francophone Studies
- German Studies
- Linguistics
- Literary Studies
- Spanish & Latin American Studies
Performing and Visual Arts
- Art History
- Ceramics
- Dance
- Drawing and Painting
- Electronic Media
- Film
- Music
- Photography
- Studio Arts
- Theater Arts
- Visual Studies
Science, Mathematics & Computing
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Computer Science
- Ecology
- Mathematics
- Physics
- Pre-Engineering
- Pre-Medical Studies
- Quantitative Studies
Social Studies
Interdisciplinary Studies
- African American and African Studies
- Asian Studies
- Center for Food Studies
- Contemporary Critical Theory
- Education, Polity and Society
- Environmental Studies
- Gender Studies
- Mind Brain Studies
- Natural Sciences
Dual Degrees and Partnerships
- Bard Chinese Immersion
- Bard Globalization & International Affairs Program
- Bard Study Abroad & International Programs
- Center for Food and Resilience
- Center for Food Studies
- Creative Writing at University of Manchester
- Dual Degree: Columbia Engineering Program (BA/BS)
- Dual Degree: Dartmouth Engineering Program (BA/BE)
- Dual Degree: Levy Economics Institute Program (BA/MS)
- Dual Degree: Vermont Law Environmental Policy Program
- Ecology & Sustainability Studies in Montserrat
- Field Research in China
- French Immersion Tours France
- Italy Intensive in Tuscany (East Carolina University)
- Oxford University, Lincoln College
- Oxford University, St. Catherine's College
- Photography Studies at International Center for Photography
- SUNY Upstate Medical University Summer Research Fellowship
- Spanish Studies Abroad: Spain, Argentina, Cuba or Puerto Rico
- Study at Bard College
- Theater Studies at Eugene O’Neill Theater Center
- Theater Studies at Moscow Art Theatre School
Special Programs and Projects