Bennington College Welcomes the Class of 2027
Bennington College welcomed a robust and diverse class of 211 new first-year and transfer students this fall.
Students hail from 36 states and 16 countries
24% are domestic students of color
10% have international citizenship
The class of 2027 is the most ethnically diverse class yet. Nearly a quarter, 24%, are domestic students of color. They hail from 36 states (and Washington DC) and 16 different countries. Of the incoming class, 10% of students have international citizenship, 17% are the first students in their family to attend college, and 27% are Pell-grant eligible. This class continues Bennington’s commitment to making higher education accessible and affordable to students from a diverse array of backgrounds.
The incoming class is also the most talented academically in terms of high school grade point average (GPA). They have earned an average unweighted GPA of about 3.7 (on a 4.0 scale), compared with 3.6 in recent years.
17% are the first in their family to attend college
27% are Pell eligible
Of 17 incoming transfer students, 8 are coming from community colleges
Among the class of 2027, 17 students are transfer students: eight are from two-year colleges, while 10 are from four-year institutions. Students have transferred from Bard College (NY), Berkshire Community College (MA), Camden Community College (NJ), Colorado State University, Community College of Rhode Island ,Community College of Vermont, DePaul University (IL), Emerson College (MA), Fashion Institute of Technology (NY), New School University (NY), Santa Rosa Junior College (CA), Sarah Lawrence College (NY), Southern Connecticut State University, Southern Maine Community College, Southwestern College (CA), and University of California-Santa Cruz.
The class of 2027 also includes five United World College (UWC) Davis Scholars, hailing from UWC Costa Rica, UWC Maastricht, UWC Mostar in Bosnia & Herzegovina, and UWC Thailand.
"This is an exceptionally talented group of creative artists, musicians, writers, linguists, activists, social scientists, and scientists. Their rich array of backgrounds and experiences will add to the vibrancy of our campus community,” said Vice President for Enrollment Tony Cabasco. “It was a pleasure to get to know them during the college search process. We are eager to welcome them to Bennington in the next few weeks."
Interest in Bennington continues to grow among college-bound students. As compared to five years ago, the total number of applications to Bennington has grown exponentially. This year saw a record number of applications. For the 2023-24 academic year, 2,826 students applied to Bennington, and 48.1% of those were admitted.
The student experience continues to be individualized and rigorous. The student-to-faculty ratio is 9:1. Bennington’s flexible, responsive curriculum also directly engages students’ academic interests through adding new courses each term and allowing students and faculty to propose intensive “pop-up” mini-courses that investigate unfolding current events and issues.
The academic year will kick off on September 5 with Convocation and the start of fall courses.