A private college in the public interest.
Bard College seeks to inspire curiosity, a love of learning, idealism, and a commitment to the link between higher education and civic participation.
Academics at Bard
Academics at Bard focus on giving students a strong scholarly foundation with our core curriculum, then encouraging them to explore individual academic interests.
In the classroom, the level of academic discourse is high, and students are in close contact with scholars who are active in their disciplines alongside teaching. The College provides a beautiful setting in which students pursue their academic interests and craft a rich cultural and social life.
Bard by the Numbers
Photo by Jonatha Asiedu ’24
Civic Engagement
Civic engagement is at the core of Bard College’s institutional mission, reflecting the fundamental belief that higher education institutions can and should operate in the public interest. Bard uses its resources to develop partnerships that address local, national, and global problems, reach underserved populations, and tackle critical issues of education and public policy.
What’s New at Bard
The Fisher Center at Bard Announces Summerscape 2025, Bringing Opera, Dance, Spiegeltent, and the 35th Bard Music Festival: Martinů and His World, to the Idyllic Hudson River Valley, June 27 – August 17
This year, across multidisciplinary programming in dance, opera, and music, classical compositional legacies are explored in exhilarating new ways and brought into revelatory discussion with the contemporary world.
Bard College Conservatory of Music Presents Signs, Games & Messages 2025: A Kurtág Festival
The three-day festival, February 29–March 2, celebrating the music and artistry of renowned Hungarian composer György Kurtág is free and open to the public and will take place on Bard’s campus in Annandale.
Bard College Hosts Third Annual Rethinking Place: Bard-on-Mahicantuck Conference on Food & Memory, March 6–8
“Food & Memory,” will aim to explore food systems, agricultural practices, and culinary histories as a point of entry into place-making past, present, and future.
Watch: Annie, a premed biology major at Bard, explores the Reem-Kayden Center for Science and Computation.
Campus Life
Inside and outside the classroom, the focus of student life at Bard College is on campus. 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.
Photo by Chris Kayden
Arts at Bard
Bard College offers the best of both worlds: a traditional liberal arts college with exceptional programs in the fine and performing arts. In small classes taught by notable faculty, students work closely with top professionals in their fields. All students, whatever their major, are encouraged to take advantage of the College’s high-level arts programming and to cultivate their artistic abilities.
Upcoming Events
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Explore Bard
Undergraduate Programs
Undergraduate students can earn a bachelor of arts degree in one of approximately 35 programs.
Graduate Programs
Bard’s Graduate Programs offer specialized study in human rights, environmental policy, and more.
Bard Early Colleges
Bard has been a national leader in early college education since 1979.
International Programs
Bard offers its students a wide range of opportunities to engage in international dialogue.
Bard Network
Bard envisions the liberal arts institution as the hub of a network that spans the globe.
Open Society University Network
The Open Society University Network works to integrate higher-ed teaching and research worldwide.