Colby College

Introduction

Colby College is a private liberal arts college located on Mayflower Hill in Waterville, Maine, USA. Founded in 1813, it is the 12th-oldest independent liberal arts college in the United States. Colby was the first all-male college in New England to accept female students in 1871.

Approximately 1,800 students from more than 60 countries are enrolled annually. The college offers 54 major fields of study and 30 minors. In part because of Colby's location, more than two thirds of Colby students participate in study abroad programs. Colby College competes in the NESCAC conference.

Academics

Students choose from courses in 54 major fields and have wide flexibility in designing independent study programs, electing special majors, and participating in internships and study-abroad programs. Colby emphasizes project-based learning.Colby's most popular majors are Government, Economics, and Biology. Volunteer programs and service learning take many students into the surrounding community.

Scholarships
Colby Students and Faculty receive scholarships for advanced study. Colby students have received scholarships including Rhodes Scholarships, Udall Scholarships, Fulbright Program grants, Thomas J. Watson Fellowships, Harry S. Truman Scholarships, Barry M. Goldwater Scholarships, Gates Scholarships and others. There are 13 scholarships for which a particular Faculty Advisor is assigned to assist students in pursuing.

Campus

Colby's 714-acre campus is situated on Mayflower Hill overlooking the small city of Waterville, Maine, located along the Kennebec River Valley in Central Maine. Colby's campus buildings vary in age from the original Mayflower Hill construction in the 1930s to its newest building, Davis, completed in 2014. Most of Colby's buildings are designed in the Georgian Revival style of the original Mayflower Hill construction, but recent architectural additions have largely branched out.


Athletics
The Colby Mules compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III New England Small College Athletic Conference, and the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Consortium.[84] There are 16 varsity teams for women, 15 for men, and one co-ed team. The official school colors are blue and gray. Approximately 1/3 of the student population participates in one or more of 32 intercollegiate varsity sports. Colby also offers club sports and an intramural sports program called I-Play. As of 2013, 5 graduates have qualified for the Olympic Games.


Student life

Colby’s 1,800-plus students, evenly divided between men and women, come from virtually every state and more than 60 countries. Colby students are listed as 62% white, 18% unknown race, 14.5% ALANA (Asian American, Latino/a, African American, Native American), and 5.3% international (2009–10). Colby's class of 2014 is the most diverse in its history, with 24% of its students being ALANA and 7% being international.
Colby's was one of the five original schools to partner with the Shelby Davis Scholarship program for graduates from the United World Colleges, dramatically increasing the international student population.Colby also participates in the Posse Foundation for multicultural scholars. In 2005, Colby was profiled by NAFSA's Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization. Colby College has a total undergraduate enrollment of 1,847, with a gender distribution of 47 percent male students and 53 percent female students. At this school, 95 percent of the students live in college-owned, -operated, or -affiliated housing and 5 percent of students live off campus. Colby College is part of the NCAA III athletic conference.

Campus Services

Colby College offers a number of student services including nonremedial tutoring, placement service, health service, and health insurance. Colby College also offers campus safety and security services like 24-hour foot and vehicle patrols, late night transport/escort service, 24-hour emergency telephones, lighted pathways/sidewalks, student patrols, and controlled dormitory access (key, security card, etc). Of the students at Colby College, 47 percent have cars on campus. Alcohol is permitted for students of legal age at Colby College.


Applying

When applying to Colby College, it's important to note the application deadline is January 1, and the early decision deadline is November 15. Scores for either the ACT or SAT test are due March 1. It is more selective, with an acceptance rate of 28.1 percent.


School mission and unique qualities:

Founded in 1813, Colby is one of America's most selective liberal arts colleges. Serving only undergraduates, Colby offers an academic program rooted in the deep exploration of ideas and enriched by partnerships with world-class faculty scholars. Students and professors work in tandem, pushing intellectual boundaries, testing hypotheses, and creating new approaches and solutions to complex scenarios. Research opportunities across the curriculum provide an ideal setting for student-faculty mentorships and often result in coauthoring peer-reviewed articles or presenting research together at conferences. The Colby campus and its location in Waterville, Maine, enhance learning and support intense interaction among students and professors. Undergraduates enjoy easy access to world-class research institutions through partnerships with Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences and Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory. Ongoing study of the local Belgrade Lakes provides students additional research experiences within minutes of campus. Exceptional facilities, including state-of-the-art academic buildings and labs and the finest college art museum in the country, enrich the academic program. The Colby museum is an integral resource for the College, with more than 100 courses across the curriculum using it as a place for teaching and learning in 2014-15. Colby connections extend beyond Mayflower Hill to all parts of the world. Nearly 70 percent of students study abroad, choosing from 200 programs in more than 60 countries. A robust, global community of alumni and parents-plus partnerships with companies, nonprofits, and international institutions- offer students opportunities for internships, service learning, and research. In fall 2014 Colby partnered with Citi as the pilot institution for a new recruiting program geared toward small, selective colleges. The College also integrated the Colby Career Center with College advancement to foster networking and bolster students' experiential opportunities, including an extensive job-shadowing program that pairs students with alumni and parents in senior-ranking positions across a wide range of workplaces. These experiences inform students' intellectual pursuits, and connections made put students at a distinct advantage as they enter the workforce and throughout their lives. Success is predictable; surveyed one year after graduation, 79 percent of alumni in the Class of 2013 were working full time and 19 percent were attending graduate school full time. This spring Colby- a carbon-neutral institution- earned the second-highest sustainability rating among 260 schools, based on scores from the Sustainability, Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (STARS), the premier sustainability assessment in North America. In September the College inaugurated its 20th president, David A. Greene, who pledged to "lift Colby to new heights." He is fulfilling that promise with new and expanded initiatives, partnerships, facilities, and resources. Planning is underway for baseball and softball stadiums with synthetic-turf surfaces, and the College is exploring options for new performing arts and athletics facilities. In an effort to enhance downtown Waterville as a vibrant, dynamic destination for residents, visitors, and businesses, President Greene convened a steering committee to collaborate with local civic, business, and cultural leaders. Colby approved an additional $1.2 million in financial aid for first-year students last fall, enabling the College to admit many more highly qualified students regardless of their financial need. Colby remains committed to meeting 100 percent of calculated need and to its policy of replacing loans in financial aid awards with grants. The applicant pool for the Class of 2019 was the largest, most academically prepared, and most diverse in Colby's history.


Academic Life

The student-faculty ratio at Colby College is 10:1, and the school has 71.6 percent of its classes with fewer than 20 students. The most popular majors at Colby College include: Social Sciences; Biological and Biomedical Sciences; Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies; English Language and Literature/Letters; and Physical Sciences. The average freshman retention rate, an indicator of student satisfaction, is 93.5 percent.


Summary

Colby College is a private institution that was founded in 1813. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 1,847, its setting is rural, and the campus size is 714 acres. It utilizes a 4-1-4-based academic calendar. Colby College's ranking in the 2016 edition of Best Colleges is National Liberal Arts Colleges, 19. Its tuition and fees are $49,120 (2015-16).
Colby College is located in Waterville, Maine. Colby’s campus, home to the 128-acre Perkins Arboretum wildlife refuge, is a State Wildlife Management Area. The school also owns a nearby bog preserve and lakefront property for environmental studies. There are approximately 100 student-run clubs and organizations on campus, ranging from the Colby Ballroom Dance Club to the Society Organized Against Racism. More than one-third of students are members of Colby’s intercollegiate varsity sports teams, the Mules. Intramural and club sports are also popular. The majority of students at Colby live on campus in one of the 26 co-ed, mixed-class residence halls.
Colby has more than 50 majors across more than 20 academic departments. The most popular majors are biology, economics, English, history, global studies, government and psychology. Colby’s 4-1-4 academic calendar features the Jan Plan, a four-week term during which students can pursue an internship, independent study or focused course work. Past Jan Plan projects have included a Maine Jewish History research project and an internship with the Department of Justice. More than two-thirds of students study abroad, and Colby runs its own programs in Dijon, France; Salamanca, Spain; and St. Petersburg, Russia. Notable alumni include TV personality Billy Bush and counselor to President Obama Pete Rouse.