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The class of 2022 hails from 30 states and 28 different countries. Of the incoming class, 21% of students have international citizenship, 16% are domestic students of color, 20% are the first student in their family to attend college, and 27% are Pell eligible. This class continues Bennington’s longstanding commitment to making higher education accessible and affordable to students from a diverse array of backgrounds.

“A Bennington education prepares students to enter into the world as it is, and to make it as they want it to be,” said President Mariko Silver. “Living and learning alongside people with a broad range of experiences and perspectives helps all of our students prepare to thrive an increasingly globalized world and to take on serious challenges with creativity and commitment, and to find pleasure in doing so.”   

“We are delighted to welcome this creative, bright, talented group of students from around the globe to the Bennington community,” said Vice President for Enrollment Tony Cabasco. “We are also proud that the College can provide access to many students who may not otherwise afford a Bennington education.”

Interest in Bennington continues to grow among college-bound students. Over the past three years, the total number of applications to Bennington has been increasing, growing by more than a third since 2015. For the 2018-19 academic year, a record 1,486 rising first-year students applied to Bennington, 57% of whom were accepted.

As these admissions trends indicate, the College remains focused on building a strong foundation for the future. 2018 marks the fourth consecutive year that Bennington has enrolled a total incoming class of over 200 students.

Even as the Bennington student body grows, the student experience remains as individualized and robust as ever, with a student to faculty ratio remaining low at 10:1. Bennington’s flexible, responsive curriculum also directly engages students’ academic requests through adding new courses each term and allowing students to propose intensive “pop-up” mini-courses that investigate unfolding current events and issues.

The academic year kicked off on September 4 with and the start of Fall .

About 51��������
51�������� is a liberal arts college in southwestern Vermont that distinguished itself early on as a vanguard institution in American higher education. The College  was the first to integrate work in the classroom with work in the field and the first to include the visual and performing arts in a liberal arts education. To this day, Bennington stands apart in requiring that every student—every winter term—get a job, complete an internship, or pursue an entrepreneurial experience. Bennington students work intensively with faculty to forge individual educational paths around their driving questions and interests. The College graduates students who, regardless of their chosen field of study, are notably confident and accomplished.