Undergrad & Transfer Students
Find Your Community
Sterling College leads the nation in ecological thinking and action, and we are committed to being open this fall offering in-person, practical, hands-on, and timely education. Our students, faculty, and staff understand that the climate catastrophe is already here, and in the face of COVID-19, safe and thriving communities, food security, and environmental health are more important than ever.
Are you passionate about environmental sustainability? The study of the natural world? Agriculture? Outdoor education? Do you want to take real action against our current Climate Crisis? Then Sterling might just be the perfect fit for you.
At Sterling, you will explore the critical issues of our day: humanity’s relationship with the natural world and each other, and the stewardship of our air, water, soil, food, and climate. You will learn timely and pragmatic skills to bolster your self-sufficiency like, social justice activism, story telling, food preservation, low-impact farming, knitting and weaving, and outdoor group facilitation.
Learning Happens Everywhere Here
Classrooms, Laboratory, Cedar Swamp, Mountainsides, Pastures, Barns
Sterling empowers you to refine your voice by trying out new skills, being part of a supportive learning space, and trusting you as a learner to be a leader in your own educational journey. Are you picturing yourself spending early mornings in the barn? Baking bread for a class on food systems? Sitting around a fire listening to creation stories of indigenous tribes?
We thought so.
Click through to learn more about our majors:
Learning During COVID-19
A Bold Solution
COVID-19 has forced us to rethink closeness and community; but here at Sterling, our small student body and our rural, New England campus has allowed us to restructure our Fall Semester to offer a low-risk, in-person alternative.
For the 20/21 academic year, students will be housed in Living & Learning Pods (LLPs), creating intentional communities of 7-18 students who are passionate about ecological thinking and action. Students will explore, sleep, dine, learn, and work as self-contained units in their areas of study with small teams of dedicated faculty and staff, allowing a “deep dive” into their studies in a low-risk environment.
Our LLPs allow students to have close, meaningful interactions with faculty and staff. Our creative and nimble approach allows for rapid response should there be a suspected COVID outbreak. LLP’s will stay together, as a quarantine unit, for a five-week academic block, with appropriate safety and hygiene methods taken for the interim transition from one pod to another.
Got more COVID-specific questions? Click through for details:
Forge Your Own Path
Take the Road Less Traveled
Some students will join us the summer after their senior year of high school. Some will backpack the Appalachian Trail first, take a few years off to work on a farm, and others will stay close to home supporting loved ones.
Many Sterling students get their start at a community college or a larger institution, and then find their way to Craftsbury Common. No matter the journey, know that we value your personal path toward—or back into—education. Your life experiences matter to us as much as your grade in high school chemistry!
For this reason we accept rolling applications; apply when the timing feels right for you! Sterling is a rich and diverse community of academics, change-makers, early risers, and feral spirits.
Explore Our Community:
