Announcing the Class of 2023
Bennington College is preparing to welcome a robust and diverse class of 181 new students to campus for the fall term.
Students hail from 30 states and 24 countries
21% are domestic students of color
19% have international citizenship
Incoming students have participated in a documentary play inspired by a border crossing visit, given a TEDx Talk on the identity challenges of donor-conceived people, and become the first teen board member at their synagogue.
The class of 2023 hails from 30 states and 24 different countries. Of the incoming class, 19% of students have international citizenship, 21% are domestic students of color, 21% are the first student in their family to attend college, and 25% are Pell eligible. This class continues Bennington’s commitment to making higher education accessible and affordable to students from a diverse array of backgrounds.
“There is much to celebrate at Bennington College this Fall,” said Interim President Isabel Roche, “as we welcome this dynamic group of young people from around the world; our historic Commons building reopens after an ambitious restoration; and momentum for the largest capital campaign in the College’s history continues to grow.”
“We are excited to welcome another group of diverse, creative, and talented students to the Bennington community,” said Vice President for Enrollment Tony Cabasco. “It was a privilege for the admissions and financial aid staff to get to know so many interesting individuals during our travels, interviews, and meetings this past year. We look forward to seeing the class of 2023’s contributions at Bennington.”
Competitive Pell Eligibility
Bennington College (incoming class of 2023) 25%
Sarah Lawrence College 23%
Smith College 19%
Bard College 21%
Swarthmore College 17%
Williams College 22%
Reed College 14%
Harvard University 16%
Among the class of 2023 are 16 students who are enrolling in Bennington after completing a gap year, including six students who participated in Bennington’s Gap Year Independent Learning program, for which they will earn academic credit for work they did prior to Bennington.
In addition, the College is welcoming transfer students from Hampshire College, Asheville Buncombe Technical Community College, Hudson Valley Community College, North Idaho College, SUNY Ulster County Community College, and the University of New Hampshire.
The class of 2023 also includes a diverse array of 11 United World College Davis Scholars, hailing from schools from Mostar to Changshu.
Across the board, interest in Bennington continues to grow among college-bound students. Over the past four years, the total number of applications to Bennington has been increasing, growing by more than 20% since 2015. For the 2019-20 academic year, 1,344 rising first-year students applied to Bennington, 60% of whom were admitted.
As these admissions trends indicate, the College remains focused on building a strong foundation for the future. The student experience continues to be individualized and rigorous, with a student to faculty ratio of 9:1. 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 kicks off on September 3 with Convocation and the start of Fall courses.