About Colby
Founded in 1813, Colby College in Waterville, Maine, is a four-year college that grants a bachelor of arts degree.
Academic Programs
Fifty-four majors are offered by 24 academic departments and nine interdisciplinary programs. The most popular majors are in economics, biology, global studies, English, government, psychology, and history. Colby follows on a 4-1-4 academic calendar, with the
month of January devoted to intensive study.
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Admissions
Admission to Colby is highly competitive. Colby received 5,407 applications for the Class of 2017. Of those, 26 percent were accepted for admission.
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Alma Mater
"Hail, Colby, Hail!" is sung to the same tune as the Canadian national anthem, but it was adopted at Colby in 1905, three years before the words to "O Canada" were written.
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Athletics
Colby fields 32 varsity teams (15 men, 16 women, and one coed), 13 club teams, six intramural leagues, and several special intramural competitions. Thirty-two percent of students participate in intercollegiate athletics in any year, and 74 percent of students play intramural or intercollegiate sports at some point in their time at Colby. Colby is a member of the New England Small College Athletics Conference (NESCAC) and competes in the NCAA Division III, with the exception of alpine and Nordic skiing, which compete in Division I.
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Athletic Facilities
Colby's athletic center and 50 acres of outdoor playing fields, including two artificial turf fields, provide some of the finest facilities for recreational, club, and varsity athletics in the Northeast.
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Budget
The 2013-14 fiscal year budget is $148.1 million.
Campus
Colby's 714-acre Mayflower Hill campus is hailed as 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, is a Maine Wildlife Management Area.
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Carbon Neutrality
Colby's leadership in sustainability and environmental education reached a milestone in April 2013 when the campus
announced it had achieved net zero carbon emissions.
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 $599,557,000 as of June 30, 2012.
Faculty
Colby employs 174 full-time and 58 part-time teaching faculty members. Ninety-eight percent of full-time faculty have a Ph.D. or a terminal degree in their area of study.
Financial Aid
Colby offers financial aid to admitted students who demonstrate financial eligibility and are enrolled full time. Approximately 60 percent of the student body receives some form of financial assistance, including grants, campus employment, and outside scholarships. More than $27 million in grants was awarded for 2011-12 with an average aid package of $41,000 for first-year students. Loans are not assigned as part of Colby aid packages.
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Housing
Thirty residence halls offer a variety of housing options including singles, doubles, triples, and suites of shared rooms. All halls are coeducational and, with the exception of the Alfond Senior Apartments and Dialogue Housing, mix class years. Substance-free halls and quiet halls are available on request. All halls are smoke-free; the entire campus will be tobacco-free beginning with the 2013-14 academic year. Community Advisors (CAs) in each hall work to support students and to foster vibrant, respectful communities in each residence hall. Colby has no fraternities or sororities. Ninety-five percent of students live on campus.
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Libraries
Miller Library, the Bixler Art and Music Library, and the Science Library in Olin are the collective repositories of more than 900,000 books, e-books, electronic and print journals, digital research collections, music scores, sound recordings, videos/DVDs, manuscripts, and other items. As members of several consortia, the libraries have access to a merged catalog of more than eight million items, with daily courier service.
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Motto
Lux Mentis Scientia. (Knowledge is the light of the mind.)
Museum of Art
Founded in 1959, the Colby College Museum of Art, with nearly 8,000 works and 38,000 square feet of exhibition space, has built one of the finest collections of American and contemporary art at any liberal arts college. The museum plays an active role as a teaching resource for the College's academic program and offers a wide range of exhibitions and public programs.
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Study Abroad
More than two thirds of students study abroad during their College career. Colby runs three off-campus study programs of its own, and qualified students may earn academic credit by participating in other approved programs or internships. Colby's financial aid can be applied to approved off-campus study programs.
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Summer Programs
Each summer Colby plays host to continuing medical education programs as well as a variety of professional conferences, seminars, and youth sports camps.
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