Bowdoin College

Bowdoin College is a private institution that was founded in 1794. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 1,915 (fall 2022), its setting is suburban, and the campus size is 207 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Bowdoin College's ranking in the 2024 edition of Best Colleges is National Liberal Arts Colleges, #9. Its tuition and fees are $64,910.

Bowdoin College is located in the coastal New England town of Brunswick, Maine. The Bowdoin Polar Bears compete in 30 varsity sports in the NCAA Division III New England Small College Athletic Conference. Bowdoin has more than 100 student organizations. One of the largest and most active groups is the Outing Club, which offers around 150 excursions each year. Peucinian Society, founded in 1805, is one of the oldest literary and intellectual societies in the country, with alumni including poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Bowdoin abolished fraternities in 1997 and replaced them with a system of college-owned social houses. Freshmen are required to live on campus and are assigned to a college house that provides residential social activities.

Bowdoin was a men’s college until 1971, when the school admitted its first female students. It was also the first school to make the SAT and ACT optional on its application in 1969. More than half of Bowdoin students study abroad for a semester through more than 100 affiliated academic programs. Notable alumni include Olympic gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson, author Nathaniel Hawthorne, activist and educator Geoffrey Canada, former U.S. President Franklin Pierce and investigative correspondent at NBC News Cynthia McFadden.