At Vassar, a liberal arts education is guided by following your interests wherever they lead. You’ll move across disciplines, from the sciences to humanities, the arts, and social sciences. Here, the most exciting thinking happens at the borders between fields.

Our approach finds its fullest expression in how you learn. You’ll be in the conversation with your fellow students and professors, pushing the limits of what you know. At Vassar, those relationships are real, built on small classes taught by professors who know your name. It’s human-centered learning in the most literal sense: education built around people.

What makes it all come together is our culture. In our classrooms, every voice is heard, and every assumption is open to challenge and debate. That spirit permeates our community. We teach you how to never stop questioning.

In a world being transformed by artificial intelligence (AI), Vassar is fostering an academic environment where emerging technologies are studied carefully, applied intentionally, and integrated into the liberal arts. Vassar is committed to equipping students with the fluency needed to understand AI and influence how these technologies evolve across disciplines, industries, and society. Our faculty are evolving and strengthening our curriculum, shifting approaches to teaching and learning, and integrating technology into interdisciplinary programs. Vassar fosters opportunities for students to explore AI through coursework, research, and creative work that extends beyond the classroom into the wider world. A Vassar education will prepare you to engage productively with technological change and equip you with the skills and mindset to shape AI’s responsible development.

At Vassar, career development is an intentional, evolving process woven into the fabric of your liberal arts education. Grounded in the principles of life design, our approach recognizes that your career isn’t a single destination to find, but a meaningful journey to build.

The Center for Career Education (CCE) helps students and alums envision and realize a meaningful life after Vassar. We support you as you explore your interests, define your career goals, and seek opportunities for personal growth and professional development. We give you the tools to prototype different paths, adapt to a changing world, and align your professional ambitions with your personal values.

You won’t navigate this journey alone. Vassar connects you with a powerful web of peers, faculty, world-class employers, and an intensely loyal alum network from your very first year.

This award-winning signature program brings together more than 
250 sophomores with over 100 Vassar alum and parent mentors spanning 18 industries, from data science and law to sustainability and social justice. More than a networking event, the weekend is designed as a space to explore possibilities: to test ideas, ask meaningful questions, and build relationships with mentors who can help shape your next steps. It’s where curiosity turns into connections that often become the foundation for competitive summer internships and future opportunities.

A complete education requires both macro-level critical thinking and micro-level execution. To ensure Vassar graduates pivot effortlessly into the modern marketplace, we provide structured pathways to build hard-edged, technical competencies alongside any major:

A meaningful life after Vassar should be accessible to everyone. We are deeply committed to removing the systemic and hidden financial barriers 
to career exploration, ensuring that every student can confidently achieve their goals. Here is how we support you:

Before you set foot in a classroom, explore the natural sciences in a lab, or get lost among the stacks at the Thompson Library, your Vassar experience will begin in our historic residential houses. First-year students live in one of nine traditional residential houses located at the center of campus. Each house has its own color, mascot, and distinct personality and atmosphere shaped by the students who live there.

Campus housing at Vassar brings together students across every year and every discipline: there’s no sorting by major, no floors divided by graduating class. Throughout the year, you’ll bond with housemates at campus-wide events like Noise on Noyes, a Noyes House tradition featuring food and live music, or Raymond House’s annual Halloween haunted house.

Each house is its own tight-knit world, governed by a House Team that includes a seat for a first-year representative from day one. House Fellows are faculty members who live with their families in apartments within the houses, hosting study breaks and other house events while providing informal advising to residents. Student Fellows are trained returning students who provide peer-to-peer support to students new to Vassar. Community Fellows play a similar role for returning students, offering mentorship and support to help them navigate academic and social challenges.

As a first-year student, you’ll complete a detailed survey covering everything from sleep schedules to study habits to personal preferences. Our staff reviews your responses and matches you with a compatible roommate and house. We’ll also place you in a Fellow Group of 8 to 12 students who live on the same hall, with a Student Fellow assigned to help you acclimate to campus life.

Gordon Commons, our dining center, is a campus hub where students gather to eat, study, or just hang out. Thanks to our unlimited meal plan, you can dine as often as you like (including late-night hours). We make sure the food we bring to the table reflects our connection to the wider world, too. We offer a range of all-you-can-eat options, from deli, salad bar, and brick-oven pizza stations to kosher and halal options and fresh vegetables from the Vassar Farm. And there are options that accommodate a variety of preferences, allergies, and sensitivities. On Tasty Tuesdays, local Poughkeepsie eateries set up on campus to serve a diverse array of delicious cuisines. Between classes, grab a coffee or tea at The Brew, our student-run coffee shop located in the Winton Evans Bridge for Laboratory Sciences, or grab-and-go meals at The Retreat. And around campus, you can find the Street Eats food truck with its weekly rotating menu.

Athletics have deep roots at Vassar, and the Brewers continue to build on that history of success. We field 25 NCAA Division III men’s and women’s varsity teams along with four varsity club teams. Each year, Vassar student-athletes lead the Liberty League in all-academic honorees.

In 2025-26, Vassar student-athletes garnered numerous team and individual honors. The women’s rugby team reached the Final Four of the national tournament for the 10th consecutive year; five teams (field hockey, women’s soccer, women’s cross country, women’s rugby, and men’s basketball) won conference titles; 70 student-athletes were named to all-conference teams, 40 earned Regional All-American status, and 17 were named All-Americans, including Haley Schoenegge ’27, who won her second National Championship in the indoor mile and her third consecutive title in the 1,500-meter run at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships. There’s never been a better time to be a Brewer!

Through our RISE (responsibility, integrity, sportsmanship and excellence) program, we provide opportunities to help Brewers grow physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially. The program is built around four critical areas that shape the student-athlete experience and beyond: well-being, inclusion, leadership, and life after Vassar.

In addition to our 29 varsity teams, we offer a robust set of activities for the entire Vassar community, including physical education courses, intramurals, fitness classes, open recreation, and access to our fitness center, which features state-of-the-art cardio and strength-training equipment.

Students run the show when it comes to campus activities. More than 165 clubs and student organizations are overseen by the Vassar Student Association, our student government, which represents every student
on campus.

At Vassar, you’re encouraged to explore your interests, with options including identity-based and affinity groups, STEM groups, a business club, Mock Trial, and environmental and sustainability groups. If you love the performing arts, there are more than a dozen theater groups, nine a cappella groups, improv and sketch comedy groups, and even a circus troupe. For makers, check out Glassar, Vassar’s stained-glass club, or the Ceramics Club. Write for The Miscellany News, Vassar’s student-run newspaper, or other publications like Grey Matters, Contrast, and the Vassar Student Review, or host your own show on WKVR, the college’s radio station.

These are just a few of the many ways students build connection with each other. At Vassar, students enjoy engaging in a range of activities, and it’s the overlap of interests and passions that brings our community together.

There is always something going on at Vassar, from concerts and festivals to performances and celebrations. Every spring, the Vassar community comes together for Founder’s Day, an annual festival featuring food, rides, music, and fireworks. Halloweekend brings 48 hours of haunted houses, costume contests, pumpkin carving, parties, and trick-or-treating. And Vassar Tiny Desk, a collaboration between the Student Music Union, Vassar College Entertainment, Vassar College Television, and The Miscellany News, gives student musicians a coveted chance to record and share their work with peers. You’ll never run out of things to do here.

Designated a National Heritage Area by Congress, the Hudson Valley has more major historic sites per square mile than any other place in the United States. From historic Gilded Age mansions to charming river towns, hiking and climbing, and world-class art museums, the region is as rich in culture and history as it is in natural beauty.

Vassar sits at the salt line, the location in the Hudson River where salt water pushing north from the Atlantic Ocean meets fresh water flowing south from the Adirondack Mountains. The interaction of the two creates an ecosystem that provides nutrients that foster growth, mirroring what happens inside Vassar’s classrooms and across our campus, where people, perspectives, and disciplines converge, ideas spark, and innovation happens.

Right at Vassar’s doorstep is the Arlington neighborhood of Poughkeepsie. Along Raymond Avenue and Collegeview Avenue, you’ll find cafes, restaurants, retail shops, and green spaces. Stop at Twisted Soul for a rice bowl, grab a latte at the Crafted Kup, and stock up on sweets at Fika & Hygge, a Scandinavian candy and coffee shop. Each Thursday from late spring to early fall, Arlington and Vassar College host a farmers’ market where you can buy fresh produce, cheese, gelato, crafts, and other products from local artisans.

Ninety minutes by train puts New York City and everything it offers within easy reach.

Vassar partners with organizations across New York City, opening doors to opportunities that expand your horizons, sharpen your skills, and advance your career. Students have deepened their understanding of the criminal justice system by interning at the New York City Criminal Court alongside Judge Tamiko Amaker ’90, where they attended cases, witnessed testimonies, and learned about legal writing and procedures. Through our Mindich Fellows program, students interested in education can spend winter break assisting teachers in New York City’s public schools with everything from tutoring to preparing materials to leading class discussions.

Beyond academics, New York City is yours to explore. Thanks to a donor-funded endowment, the Vassar Ticket Fund offers students 
free tickets to Broadway and other professional performances, along 
with transportation support, through an application process. From world-class museums to art galleries, live music, shopping, and dining, the best of New York City is only a train ride away.

Nature and landscape have been integral to Vassar’s culture, campus, and curriculum since the College’s inception. The 1,000-acre campus 
is a living entity. Literally. Mirroring the natural growth and evolution 
of our academic pursuits, the campus itself is a designated arboretum.

For students, Vassar’s natural environment is a refuge—a place 
where you can think without walls, decompress between seminars, 
and find shade for afternoon study sessions. The natural world
isn’t a backdrop here. It’s part of the education, and part of what makes Vassar feel like home.

Steps from the center of campus you’ll find more than 500 acres of protected forests, streams, wetlands, ponds, and old fields. It’s a place to wander and recharge, with a seven-mile network of marked trails ranging from easy strolls to rugged climbs. The Preserve is also a living laboratory: founded in 2023, the Native Plant Propagation Program is building a stock of site-adapted native plants to preserve local genetics, support pollinators, and return native plants to the surrounding community. The Vassar Environmental Cooperative brings people to the Preserve through outdoor education programs, and within its borders is the Poughkeepsie Farm Project , an independent nonprofit working farm spanning 12 acres.

Each year, Vassar aims to enroll smart, creative, and 
talented students from around the globe. We seek those who will contribute to our community of lively discourse, collective individualism, and fearless creativity. Although we weigh a number of factors in the admission decision, the most important is academic performance, as demonstrated in high school. We also consider personal strengths, school and community involvements, motivation, and potential as evidenced in essays, recommendations, and out-of-class contributions.

Vassar accepts both the Common Application and the Coalition Application. In addition to a student’s high school transcript, Vassar requires a school report with a counselor recommendation and one teacher recommendation. Vassar is test optional, meaning applicants may choose whether or not to submit SAT or ACT scores.