The path to making an impact— no matter what field you choose—
Colby will connect you to:
Mentors and peers who inspire and support you.
Experiences that position you for success.
Resources to help put your ideas in motion.
Impacting their fields with research and thought, they ELEVATE and ENLIVEN our classroom dialogue. World-class scholars, they are teachers foremost.
10:1 student-to-faculty ratio
66% of classes with fewer than 20 students
Our students are fluent in the language of the future.
Programs such as Colby’s data science major help add expertise with computer skills and mindsets, increasingly important as the global marketplace becomes ever more automated and network-driven.
Colby’s Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts, a $95-million, 74,000-square-footcenter, which opened in the fall of 2023, is the most advanced and innovative arts facility in the region.
(the first of its kind at a liberal arts college) facilitates interdisciplinary, human-centered scholarship and equips you with the technical skills and ethical grounding to lead in a future where AI is reshaping industries, careers, and the very nature of creativity and discovery.
Colby’s computational biology program prepares you with deep knowledge of the exploding field of bioinformatics by combining computer science and biology.
Colby students represent more than 45 states and 80 countries
Conduct research around the world at sites such as BioInnovate Ireland, the Icelandic Meteorological Office, and Peking University First Hospital.
Pursue internships with global corporations and nonprofits, such as NASA, Oceana, and the Stockholm Film Festival.
Choose from a range of off-campus study options, including theme-based coursework, cultural immersion, and intensive foreign-language learning.
pre-established study abroad programs in 60 countries
Our innovative DavisConnects program provides networks and resources to connect you with funded experiences—whether that’s research, fieldwork, internships, creative explorations, or independent projects—around the world. Regardless of your personal networks, financial resources, major, or intended career, your path will be shaped by direct encounters with the world beyond your own.
DavisConnects has provided more than $10M for student internships, research experiences, and global opportunities since 2017.
Generous funds and guidance by industry advisors provide access to enriching global experiences beginning in your first year.
When conversations that shape the future happen, you’ll have a front-row seat.
The Lunder Institute for American Art
Exists at the crossroads of scholarship and creative production, establishing opportunities for research and collaboration with leading artists, scholars, and curators.
The Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence
Facilitates significant faculty and student research and explores how AI is transforming industries, careers, and modes of discovery, creativity, and scholarship.
The Oak Institute for Human Rights
Supports students with their fieldwork opportunities that build the tools needed to advance human rights advocacy around the world.
The Halloran Lab for Entrepreneurship
Provides a platform for students to bring promising ideas to fruition through innovative spaces on campus and in downtown Waterville.
Here, the important voices of our time speak to the issues that are shaping the future.
The Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs
Inspires active citizenship and exploration of creative, interdisciplinary approaches to complex challenges.
The Pugh Center Fosters an inclusive campus community by promoting advocacy, leadership development, and social justice education.
The Lyons Arts Lab
Supports student creativity and innovation across academic disciplines, serving as an incubator for new ideas, concepts, and content.
The Center for the Arts and Humanities
Fuels an annual campus-wide discussion of an interdisciplinary humanities topic, runs experiential learning labs, and hosts an annual colloquium series.
World-class partners. Unparalleled location.
Colby has a culture of inquiry. It begins in our classrooms as professors challenge you to identify problems and seek solutions. It continues as your curiosity leads you in pursuit of innovation or deepened understanding.
Explore genetics and genomics at The Jackson Laboratory on Mount Desert Island.
Conduct collaborative research at some of the nation’s leading institutes— tapping Maine’s natural wonders while working alongside leading scientists.
Explore oceanography, microbiology, or bioinformatics at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences.
Expose threats to democracy through research that reveals the impact of socioeconomics on voter participation in local communities.
Launch your own research or scholarship, mentored by a Colby professor, with funding from DavisConnects—in Colby’s labs, throughout the state of Maine, or anywhere around the world.
Implement a geographical information system program in Tanzania during Jan Plan.
Analyze water quality and the environmental impact of development on the Belgrade Lakes.
Join your professors as a paid research assistant— collecting and analyzing data, publishing your findings, and presenting at industry conferences.
Pursue global research or internship experiences with funding from the Buck Lab for Climate and Environment or the Linde Packman Lab for Biosciences Innovation.
Engage in climate-change research and creative work off
Tap into other Colby resources for sparking, guiding, and supporting student research across our entire curriculum.
Partner with the College’s groundbreaking Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence to explore the impact of AI across academic disciplines and industries.
Where history’s great works of art
The Colby Museum of Art is a magnet for artists and researchers from around the world who bring their energy and ideas to Colby while inviting students to join them in cross-disciplinary research, art-making, performance, and discovery.
Featuring works by Picasso, Whistler, Cassatt, and O’Keeffe, and attracting 58,177 visitors in 2023–2024, our collection of 11,000 works of art is widely regarded as the finest to be found on a college campus.
But the art is just a backdrop for the learning it inspires. The galleries double as laboratories, supporting inquiry and exploration in more than 180 classes across 24 departments.
Leveraging Colby’s longstanding partnerships, students pursue internships at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Smithsonian Institution, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, and other world-class museums and global arts hubs.
The Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts functions as an incubator for student-driven creative expression across all artistic disciplines through its multi-purpose, collaborative spaces including a 300-seat performance hall and a 2,500-square-foot black box theater.
We’ve been working together since 1931, when the city of Waterville helped Colby raise funds to purchase our 714-acre campus on Mayflower Hill. These historical ties between the College and the city it calls home foster reciprocity and a civic partnership that benefits both communities— and grows stronger each day. In recent years, Colby has invested more than $100 million in Waterville’s revitalization.
Through academic coursework and participation in college-city partnerships, students contribute their ideas and energy to a wide range of civic engagement initiatives.
Our 350,000-square-foot Harold Alfond Athletics and Recreation Center provides a world-class forum for all students to live a healthy, active lifestyle.
Key facilities include a 50-meter pool (the only Olympic-sized Myrtha international competition pool in the Northeast); an ice arena; a 200-meter indoor track; a climbing wall; nine squash courts; dance, yoga, and meditation studios; and one of the largest fitness centers at a liberal arts college.
Compete at the highest levels while building relationships and habits of mind you’ll carry with you always.
Whether varsity athletes, club sport devotees, or intramural enthusiasts, our students don’t have to choose between preparing for the future and enjoying their present.
While preparing students to lead and innovate in a rapidly changing world, WE PRACTICE
The nation’s fourth college to achieve carbon neutrality, Colby is home to an award-winning environmental studies department and an environment and climate change lab that creates opportunities for students to channel ideas into research, fieldwork, and action.
Our biomass heating plant (which eliminates the need for one million gallons of heating oil each year) and a solar array help solidify Colby’s coveted gold rating from the Sustainability, Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System. We also hold a LEED Platinum rating and a SITES Gold rating.
Colby students enjoy consistent success—
Receive advice from industry experts who will help you develop a targeted and relevant portfolio of experiences, knowledge, connections, and perspectives.
Whether leading a company, launching a global nonprofit, writing award-winning novels, innovating new surgical techniques, or teaching environmental policy, our graduates lead lives of purpose, making an impact on their communities and the world.
Gain access to our vast networks of companies, organizations, and industries of greatest interest to our students through influential insiders who understand the quality of the Colby education and the impact of its graduates.
Estimate your cost in 90 seconds:
There is no fee to apply to Colby. SAT and ACT scores are not required, and there are no additional essays or writing supplements to submit.
We meet 100% of demonstrated financial need for every admitted student.
Through the newly expanded Fair Shot Fund, Colby will be one of the only liberal arts colleges in the country that guarantees a substantial cap on parent or guardian contribution.* Our no-loan policy gives you the opportunity to graduate debt free. *Starting Fall 2025
Student Community
2,400 students
45+/80+
African-American Studies
American Studies
Anthropology
Art History
Astronomy
Biology
C ell and Molecular
Biology/Biochemistry
C omputational Biology
Ecology and Evolution
Neuroscience
Chemistry
Biochemistry
C ell and Molecular
Biology/Biochemistry
Environmental Science
Classical Civilization
Anthropology
English
Jan Plan
Classics
English
Computer Science
Data Science
East Asian Studies
Economics
Financial Markets
Educational Studies
Professional Certification
English
C reative Writing
Literature and the Environment
Environmental Computation
Environmental Policy
Environmental Science
French Studies
Geology
German Studies
Global
Government
History
Jewish
Latin
Mathematics
Mathematical
S tatistics
Music
Computational
Philosophy
Physics
Astrophysics
Psychology
Computational
Psychology
Neuroscience
Religious Studies Russian
Students
50 percent
of August 1, 2025
Spend the month of January devoted to just one pursuit, whether deepening your interests, developing a new skill, or indulging your curiosity. Explore specialized topics (choosing from more than 100 courses), conduct collaborative or independent research in the lab or field, try on a career through an internship, travel and study elsewhere in the world, or launch an independent creative project.
Colby complies with Title IX, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs and activities. Questions regarding Title IX may be referred to Colby’s Title IX coordinator or to the federal Office of Civil Rights. In compliance with the Clery Act, which requires Colby to disclose campus crime statistics, you will find Colby’s Annual Safety, Security, and Fire Safety Report at https://life.colby.edu/your-safety/campus-safety/annual-security-report/