Founded in 1813, Colby College in Waterville, Maine, is a private, independent, four-year liberal arts college.
Academic Programs
Fifty-five majors and 35 minors are offered by 23 academic departments and nine interdisciplinary programs.
Academic Calendar
Colby follows a 4-1-4 academic calendar, with the month of January devoted to intensive study, career exploration, or cultural immersion. More >
Admissions
Admission to Colby is highly competitive. The College offered admission to 1,258 students to the Class of 2026, with selections made from a pool of 16,891 candidates. Colby admitted 7 percent of students who applied from the largest and most competitive applicant pool in Colby’s history. The median SAT was 1500 and the median ACT was 34. Ninety percent of the students are expected to graduate in the top 10 percent of their high school class.
Alma Mater
“Hail, Colby, Hail!” is sung to the same tune as the Canadian national anthem. The song was first performed at Colby in 1919, slowly adopted, and replaced another College song after the 1940s. It was written by Karl Raymond Kennison, Class of 1906. Lyrics >
Athletics
Colby fields 32 varsity teams (15 men, 16 women, and one coed), intramural sports, club sports, lifetime fitness classes, and informal recreational activities to provide opportunities for all levels of athletic interest and to accommodate different levels of competitiveness and intensity. The College is a member of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) and competes in the NCAA Division III, with the exception of alpine and Nordic skiing, which compete in Division I. More >
Athletic Facilities
Colby’s athletic center and 20 acres of outdoor playing fields, including four artificial turf fields, provide for recreational, club, and varsity athletics as well as community use. More > A new 350,000-square-foot athletics center opened in fall 2020 and includes an indoor competition center with a 200-meter track, Maine’s only Olympic-sized pool and New England’s only Myrtha pool, a multi-level, 13,500-square-foot fitness center, along with best-in-class ice hockey rink, gymnasium, and squash courts. More >
Budget
The 2019-20 fiscal year budget is $213.4 million.
Campus
Colby’s 714-acre Mayflower Hill campus is considered one of the most attractive campuses in the nation. It is located 20 minutes from the state capital and an hour north of Portland or south of Bangor. Most of the campus, including the 128-acre Perkins Arboretum and Bird Sanctuary, is a Maine Wildlife Management Area. Campus map >
Carbon Neutrality
Colby was the fourth college or university in the nation to achieve carbon neutrality, which it accomplished in 2013. More >
DavisConnects
Colby’s innovative program, DavisConnects, guarantees every student access to a global, internship, and research experiences regardless of personal networks, connections, or financial means. More >
Degree
Colby awards the bachelor of arts degree and uses the Latin abbreviation, A.B. (for Artium baccalaureus).
Endowment
The market value of Colby’s endowment stood at $1.26 billion as of June 30, 2021.
Faculty
Colby employs 207 full-time and approximately 30 part-time teaching faculty members. Ninety-five percent of full-time faculty members have a Ph.D. or a terminal degree in their area of study.
Tuition and Financial Aid
For the 2021-2022 academic year, the comprehensive fees for attending Colby College is $76,965. This includes tuition, room, and board. Through the Colby Commitment, we pledge to meet 100 percent of each admitted student’s demonstrated financial need without loans. The Fair Shot Fund, announced in 2018, ensures that talented students from families in the middle-income brackets will have access to Colby’s extraordinary educational opportunities by capping the annual parent/guardian contribution at $15,000 for families making up to $150,000 (with assets typical of that income level). Families making less than $65,000 (with assets typical of that income level) can expect no parent or guardian contribution for their student to attend.
For the Class of 2022, more than 95 percent of families with an income of $200,000 or less qualified for financial aid. Nearly $46 million in grants was awarded for 2018-19 with an average aid package of $53,497 for first-year students. Approximately 46 percent of the student body receives some form of financial assistance. More >
Housing
Nearly 100 percent of students live on campus in 30 residence halls, including in the Bill & Joan Alfond Main Street Commons in downtown Waterville, which opened in 2018. Students select among a variety of housing options including singles, doubles, triples, and suites of shared rooms. All halls are coeducational and most mix class years. Substance-free halls and quiet halls are available by request. The entire campus, including all residence halls, is tobacco-free. More >
International Experiences
More than two-thirds of students study abroad during their college career. Colby runs two off-campus study programs of its own, and qualified students may earn academic credit by participating in one of hundreds of approved programs or internships. Colby’s financial aid can be applied to approved off-campus study programs. More >
Libraries
Colby’s three libraries provide easy access to more than 1.7 million items, including more than 530,000 electronic books, and access to more than 22,000 print and 130,000 electronic periodicals and newspapers. More >
Motto
Lux Mentis Scientia. (Knowledge is the light of the mind.)
Museum of Art
Founded in 1959, the Colby College Museum of Art is one of the nation’s premier college museums. The 26,000-square-foot Alfond-Lunder Family Pavilion opened in July 2013 adding 10,000 feet of exhibition space and a floor dedicated to the College’s Art Department, providing new studios for photography and fine art foundation classes. More > The Lunder Institute for American Art was established in 2017 to advance the museum to another level of scholarly and creative production and global community interaction. More >
Postgraduate Success
Ninety-four percent of graduates from the class of 2020 are employed or continuing their education.
Student Body
2,200 students from 45 states and 70 countries. Twenty-seven percent identify as students of color, 8 percent are international, 10 percent are first-generation students, and 10 percent hail from Maine.
Summer Programs
Each summer Colby plays host to continuing medical education programs as well as professional conferences, seminars, and youth sports camps. Colby is the only private liberal arts college in the nation accredited to offer Category 1 credit for the Physician’s Recognition Award of the American Medical Association. More >
