A liberal arts education at Bowdoin isn’t about being small and safe—it’s about having the support to take surprising risks. Students undertake this journey with faculty members who are scholars and artists of distinction who actively shape their fields. From their first-year seminar through their senior year, students are immersed in subjects with teachers who illuminate their learning with their own passion for their discipline. Faculty and students work together in small classes, in labs, in performance halls, and in the field where students are active participants in performing real-world research.
Following are some examples of students’ scholarly experiences at Bowdoin and beyond:
Marine ecologists from 17 institutions across New England gathered at Bowdoin's Coastal Studies Center to discuss some of the most pressing ecological issues affecting the Gulf of Maine. Read more...
Since the year 2000 more than 25 Bowdoin faculty in more than 40 courses across the curriculum have engaged some 500 students in community-based projects through partnerships with nearly 50 community agencies. Read more...
Interested in issues important to the local community as well as in exploring careers in the public sector, seventeen students spent the summer living on campus and working 40 hours a week at local non-profits. Read more...
During a whirlwind summer of apprenticeships in England, budding costume designer, Lily Prentice '10, is assistant costume designer for the Guildford Shakespeare Company, an outdoor English repertory theater. Read more...
Will Hatleberg '11 and Courtney "CJ" Bell '10 investigate annelid tubeworms on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico, 1500 feet down, by way of a submersible research vessel. Read more...
Bowdoin has been awarded more than $2.2 million in grant funding from the National Center for Research Resources. The grant has three components comprising research grants for two assistant professors of biology and a third institutional component which expands student research opportunities. Read more...
The Bowdoin Teacher Scholars program provides spring student-teaching placements in area public schools for Bowdoin juniors, seniors—and alumni—who have successfully completed required coursework for a teaching minor. Read more...
Bowdoin history major, Eli Bossin '09, joined a six-week archaeological dig on the northwest coast of Greenland, headed by Dr. Genevieve LeMoine, curator-registrar of Bowdoin's Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum. Read more...
Annie Hancock '10, a physics/visual arts major has been working for the better part of the summer to bring life back to property and open it up for public enjoyment and outdoor education programs. Read more...
Read about Bowdoin’s recipients of Fullbright Grants, Watson Fellowship, and Rhodes Scholarships here.
Bowdoin is an independent, nonsectarian, coeducational residential, undergraduate liberal arts institution founded in 1794. It is located in Brunswick, Maine, a town of 22,000 on the Maine coast. Study at Bowdoin leads to a bachelor of arts degree in one of over 40 departmental and interdisciplinary majors. Bowdoin enrolls approximately 1,750 students from across the country and around the world.
Founded: 1794
Location: Brunswick, Maine
Coeducational since 1971
Degree Awarded: Bachelor of Arts
Mascot: Polar Bear
President: Barry Mills '72
Student population: 1,775
Faculty (full-time equivalent): 190
Student-to-faculty ratio: 9:1
Number of majors: 40+
Faculty with Ph.D. or the highest degree in their field: 99%
SAT: Optional
Student Aid: No loans (all grants)
Applications received: 6,554
Applicants accepted: 16.1%
Entering class: 485
Early decision applications: 826
Early decision applicants that enrolled: 222
Public school students: 53%
Parochial and independent school students: 47%
Median SAT Score - Critical Reading: 710
Median SAT Score - Math: 700
Median SAT Score - Writing: 710
Median ACT Score: 31
Population of Brunswick: 22,000
Population of greater Portland: 230,000
Miles to Portland: 25
Miles to Boston: 120
Students living on campus: 94%
U.S. states represented by students: 49
Countries and territories represented by students: 26
New England: 730
Mid-Atlantic: 395
Midwest: 142
South: 125
Southwest: 50
West: 199
Foreign Country: 81
U.S. Territory: 1
For more information please see the Office of Institutional Research Common Data Set.
Emergency Information | Help
Send Feedback | Print Page
Connect on Bowdoin Social »
Bowdoin College · Brunswick, Maine · 04011 · 207-725-3000