Colby College

Colby College is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the US. It is located in Maine, around 20 miles from the state capital, Augusta, and around twice that from the sea.

Founded in 1813, it became a liberal arts college 15 years later. In 1833, a group of students formed an anti-slavery society after being inspired by a speech delivered by abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison.

Its 714-acre campus is one of the few carbon neutral ones nationwide. Often considered one of the best campuses in New England, Colby’s includes 30 halls of residence, housing around 95% of its students, 32 varsity teams, an 128-acre bird sanctuary and Colby College Museum of Art, an influential set of exhibitions which attracts thousands of external visitors each year.

Over two-thirds of its students participate in study abroad programmes in more than 60 different countries worldwide. International students make up more than 10% of the Colby College student body.

Committed to a liberal arts-based education, Colby College’s many four-year courses allow unusual subject combinations, like financial markets, history and biology, in the same semester.

Its alumni include Ben Bradlee Jr., the long-time Boston Globe reporter who edited the paper’s reporting on sexual abuse cover-ups involving Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston priests, which were dramatized by Oscar-winning filmSpotlight. Brokeback Mountain author Annie Proulx and Gossip Girl writer Cecily von Ziegesar are among the others whose alma mater is Colby College.