Sterling College History

Sterling College became the youngest and newest liberal arts college in the nation in 1997, when the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) approved Sterling’s move from a two-year Associates Degree institution to a four-year Baccalaureate college. Today, with just over 100 students and four major areas of study - Conservation Ecology, Circumpolar Studies, Sustainable Agriculture, and Outdoor Education and Leadership – Sterling is unique in higher education, with a curriculum that combines academics, physical challenges, craftsmanship, and service to others.

Sterling is one of only seven federally-recognized Work-Learning-Service colleges in the U.S. All residential students work within the College or surrounding community, on Sterling’s organic farm, in the kitchen, in the residences and offices, in both supervisory and supervised roles. The close-knit Sterling community is renewed each year as new students confront the challenges of living in Northern Vermont, in a large part by engaging in a tradition that spans the history of the College. In late November 1964 the first Winter Expedition bivouacked at the base of West Mountain near the Canadian boarder. Winter Expedition remains a signature part of the Sterling experience and serves as the culmination the first-year fall semester.

Sterling was founded in 1958 as a boys’ college preparatory school. It was named after Margaret Sterling, wife of Douglas Field, one of the founders and a revered faculty member. When the alternative preparatory school market waned in the early 1970’s, Sterling was well positioned to respond creatively. First to emerge was the Academic Short Course in Outdoor Leadership, a 21-day program for 13 – 16 year olds. It brought hundreds of young people to Sterling for an intense winter learning experience. The Short Course also solidified women’s presence on campus to share equally in the benefits of a Sterling education.

An extension of the idea became the year-long Grassroots project, an immediate success that led Sterling into higher education. Sterling’s first Associate of Arts Degree in Resource Management was awarded in 1982. Full accreditation as a career and technical college was granted by NEASC in 1987.

Under President John “Jed” Williamson, who served from 1996 until 2006, Sterling continued to grow and change. Most significantly, he and the faculty developed the junior and senior years, including the Senior Applied Research Project as the culminating intellectual experience for students graduating from the nation’s newest four year college. Sterling’s first Baccalaureate degree was awarded in 2000.

Just as Sterling was undergoing that significant change, the College gained eligibility to join the national Work Colleges Consortium, lending support and greater substance to its long-standing motto, Working Hands – Working Minds. It is through membership in the consortium that Sterling students earn tuition stipends for service work in the College and surrounding community.

In July, 2006 Sterling welcomed its new president, William R. Wootton. Will and his wife Lulu arrived at the College from Marlboro, Vermont, where for many years they operated a small commercial cut flower farm. Will also worked at Marlboro College for 19 years, being named vice-president of institutional advancement in 1999. In 2003 they moved to Beverly, MA, where Will served as vice-president at Montserrat College of Art.

While Sterling was developing in Craftsbury, a small group of scholars in nearby Wolcott were recognizing a pressing need for courses and research on northern regions. In 1971, they founded the Center for Northern Studies (CNS), offering comprehensive, integrative programs in Northern, or Circumpolar, Studies. Over several decades, CNS developed a junior year curriculum attended by students from around the world. During the 1990’s, with Steven B. Young as Director, CNS joined other educational institutions across the circumpolar North to form the University of the Artic, a cooperative network of universities and research organizations committed to higher education and research in the North. In fall 2003 as Steve Young retired from the directorship, CNS merged with Sterling College, and new opportunities were created for students and faculty at both institutions. Today, Sterling is the only college in the continental United States to offer an undergraduate degree in Circumpolar Studies.

Facilities on the hundred-plus acre Sterling College campus include 14 residential, administrative, and classroom buildings, a woodworking shop, and library. Outdoor teaching facilities include a managed woodlot, a sugar house, a challenge course, a 30 foot climbing tower, organic gardens, a working livestock farm with two solar/wind powered barns. The Center for Northern Studies includes a 300-acre boreal forest and wetland as well as the Center itself, containing its specialized library and map room, science lab, seminar room, offices, and central lounge.

The Sterling Faculty, a combination of full time, part time, and adjunct instructors and practitioners, are dedicated to undergraduate teaching and an interdisciplinary curriculum based on diverse learning modes.