Sterling College Mission

The Sterling College community combines structured academic study with experiential challenges and plain hard work to build responsible problem solvers who become stewards of the environment as they pursue productive lives.

Sterling College Philosophy

Education can be joyful and lasting when learning is meaningful—when it engages the learner’s intellect, passion, and working hands. Work can be satisfying and significant when it is done well and sincerely, when it includes cooperation, and when it makes a real difference. These are the ideas upon which Sterling College builds its unique approach to education. The College’s programs give students opportunities to realize what they can accomplish by meeting real challenges, both in the classroom and outside.

A Sterling College education begins with the natural world of rural, northern Vermont as a laboratory for learning. Here our students learn to solve problems, to respect adversity, to persevere in the face of physical challenges, and to understand the vital relationship between individuals and the environment. We believe modern society must rebuild that relationship in a life-sustaining way. Neither technicians nor idealists can do this on their own. As students face questions that affect our future, Sterling College’s programs provide a bridge between thought and action, between theory and practice.

As our curriculum unfolds, the horizon and sphere of educational activity expands. Students engage the broader world through internships, global field studies, exchange semesters, and Senior Applied Research Projects. We encourage students to learn about and experience other cultures and perspectives and to bring those perceptions back to campus to inform study here. Throughout the process, we ask that students go beyond studying about their world in an abstract way to engaging it actively, thus testing theory in the crucible of experience.

Another progression that plays out over the four-year curriculum involves students assuming increasing responsibility for choices in their course of studies. In the first year, students pursue a broad set of shared challenges and develop a coherent intellectual foundation for further study. To that end, we offer an extensive core curriculum. With each year that follows, however, students make more choices: deciding upon the timing and nature of their internships, choosing majors, selecting individual electives, planning field experiences, and designing Senior Applied Research Projects. While students must work within guidelines established by the College, their broad range of interests leads them along many different paths to their degrees.

What students gain at Sterling College is not confined to subject matter—the College instills an approach to life. Students learn how to apply ideas, how to cooperate with others, and how to make informed decisions. The College’s ultimate goal is to help students be adults ready to embrace all of life’s challenges with competence, intelligence, courage, and joy.