Vermont's pioneering liberal arts college, founded 1800, blending intimate undergraduate education with global reach.
Middlebury offers 45 majors in arts, humanities, sciences, and joint engineering programs on a 4–1–4 academic calendar featuring two four-course semesters plus an intensive January "Winter Term." The college pioneered the first undergraduate Environmental Studies program in the U.S. (1965). Most popular majors include Economics, Computer Science, Political Science, Environmental Studies, and Neuroscience. The college is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education and emphasizes intensive faculty-student interaction across all disciplines.
Beyond the undergraduate college, Middlebury operates the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (790 graduate students in international relations, business, language teaching, and translation), the Bread Loaf School of English (graduate programs in literature and pedagogy since 1920), the Middlebury College Language Schools (1,350 summer students in 10 languages since 1915), and the C.V. Starr-Middlebury Schools Abroad (38 sites across 17 countries). The Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, founded 1926, is called by The New Yorker "the oldest and most prestigious writers' conference in the country."
The 350-acre rural campus in Vermont's Champlain Valley features grey Vermont limestone and marble buildings, including the Davis Family Library (2004) and Bicentennial Hall. Middlebury is a residential college with 31 varsity NCAA Division III teams (the Panthers, competing in NESCAC). The college abolished fraternities in the early 1990s; some became co-educational social houses. Student life emphasizes immersive learning, community service, and engagement with the natural environment and global issues.
Middlebury enrolls approximately 2,760 undergraduates from all 50 states and 74 countries. The college offers Early Decision and Regular Decision pathways. U.S. News & World Report ranked Middlebury 13th (tie) among 211 liberal arts colleges in 2026, and Washington Monthly ranked it 8th among 190 liberal arts colleges in 2025. The Center for Careers and Internships supports students with 10,000+ annual job postings and funding for 300 summer internships.