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  February 15
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  April 1

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• Scholarships
  $1,000 to full-tuition
  
  
• Some scholarships are awarded on a rolling first-come, first-served basis. Apply early!

Admission Matters

To understand Sterling College you may have to suspend some of your ideas about college, about how people learn, and how communities function. There is no other college quite like Sterling College. Our environmental focus, commitment to experiential academics, and community is not for everyone, but it may be right for you.

2007 Internships

The Sterling College Internship program integrates academic learning with “real life” employment. This ten-week experience provides a springboard for students to focus on a major course of study. Students are encouraged to look for internships anywhere in the United States or around the world. The following are a few interns from this past summer and fall.

• Environmental Steward Scholarship applications are due April 1.
  
  
• Need-based grants up to $11,500.
  
  
• Learn more about financial aid and scholarships.

Visit Us
Find out more about visit options

• Individual weekday visits
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• Monday Visit Days
  Please register!
  - March 3, 2008
  - April 7, 2008
  - April 14, 2008
  
  
• Saturday Open House
  Please register!
  -March 29, 2008

Traveling from a distance?
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Now accepting applications for
Fall 2008 & Spring 2009
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Internship: New Leaf Organics
Location: Bristol, Vermont
Position: Garden and Greenhouse Field Crew

Internship: Navajo Trails Adventure Camp
Location: Bicknell, Utah
Position: Staff Support/Trip Leader

Internship: Green Footprints
Location: Bow, Washington
Position: Eco-Tutoring Program Developer

I am writing this blog to chronicle my experience with Experiential Education I, otherwise known as Bounder I, the first-year program that culminates with Winter Expedition.

2:08pm Tuesday, November 13, 2007
I’ve decided to go on Winter Expedition, a 4 day, 3 night primitive camping trip in the middle of December. No tents or gas stoves allowed. It is a core requirement for Sterling students completed at the end of their first semester, and for staff it is a personal right of passage. As a new staff member at Sterling I have been encouraged to participate in classes, in SARP presentations and yes, in this grueling expedition. I have very mixed feelings about it. I grew up in Vermont. I love the cold and I love the challenge, but can I, having been in New York City the last 5 years, sleep under a tarp on a below freezing night? Can I hike 20 miles with a 40 pound pack on my back? I want to do it but at this point I’m not sure I physically can. Last week I watched the Bounder class walk by my office in full gear with full packs going on a practice hike. I haven’t been practicing! Will the students be vastly ahead of me in their knowledge of the cold and their hiking endurance?

So, while my mind was distracted with doubts, I caught up with Adrian Owens, professor and Expedition Leader, and I heard myself saying, “Yes, I would like to go on expedition. What do I do?”

Adrian says I should probably go to the last Bounder class tomorrow and don’t forget to check the packing list in Paradise Hall.

For class tomorrow I need: 4 layers of clothing, a bowl, a spoon, matches, rope, expedition boots, and an axe. (An axe?!)

Read more...

Nina LaPorta '11 walking Bronze and Chrome

I Prefer Cattle
Paul Ferrari '06, Admissions Counselor

The sun was out.  Luminous clouds were sailing though the sky.  The new white snow was glowing almost too brightly in the noon sun.  On days like these, skiers take to the mountains and trails in mass and birds can be heard chirping in the trees again. 

I’ve never been much of a skier.  I’ve dabbled in bird watching a few times but it has never held my interest.  On a day like this I prefer to pick up my goad, yoke my team of working steers (a yoke is the wooden thing oxen wear on their necks), and head out for a walk.  I do realize that training oxen isn’t your typical Saturday afternoon activity. 

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Senior Research

The culminating academic experience for all graduating seniors is the SARP —Senior Applied Research Project. The SARP requires the development and research of theoretical concepts structured around a real world application. Students work one-on-one with Sterling faculty in every step of the process and collaborate with a sponsoring organization or individual that in turn make use of the SARP's results. The following is one SARP that was completed this past fall.

Tony Dalisio Class of 2008
Williamston, Michigan
Circumpolar Studies

Title: The Response of Male Dickcissels to Geographic Song Variation
Sponsors: Kansas State Division of Biology and National Science Foundation

Last semester, fourth-year student, Tony Dalisio of Williamston, Michigan, completed his Senior Applied Research Project (SARP) entitled The Response of Male Dickcissels to Geographic Song Variation. His research was sponsored by the Kansas State Division of Biology and the National Science Foundation.

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