Bates College

Our academic program starts with an intensive, often interdisciplinary first-year seminar and ends with an intensive, often interdisciplinary senior thesis. The thesis is meant to make a meaningful contribution to the storehouse of human knowledge; it is also often the first step toward a job or graduate study. Our student to faculty ratio is 10-to-1; there are 20 students in the average class; so not only will your professors know your name, they'll also know where you're coming from, where you want to go and how you might get there. Beyond this, during your time at Bates you will engage with research, fieldwork, internships, civic engagement — they're academically demanding, and they bring us into the world.

Purposeful Work:

Purposeful Work at Bates is about helping students discover the joy and power that arise from aligning who they are with what they do. It helps students identify and cultivate their interests and strengths and provides opportunities for them to acquire the knowledge, experiences, and relationships necessary to pursue their aspirations with imagination and integrity. It is grounded in our mission, has curricular and co-curricular aspects, and takes a four-year, developmental approach to working with students.

Internships and job shadowing: Bates Purposeful Work Internship Program offers 250 paid summer internships a year, drawing on a network of 70 core employers. Job shadowing also allows students to share a day in the life of alumni at workplaces such as ESPN, The National Institutes of Health, and the Maine Office of the Attorney General.

Purposeful Work Infusion Project: Across the curriculum, Bates professors address the question, "How does this relate to the world beyond college?"

Practitioner-Taught Courses: We invite alumni and other leaders in their fields to teach during Short Term. These fast-paced classes let students gain practical skills, expand their networks, and understand workplace dynamics.

Purposeful Work Unplugged: This Q&A with alumni features stories of success and failure, lessons learned, and purposeful work in their own lives. Recent participants include an Instagram content strategist, a New York Times editor, a venture capitalist, and several CEOs.

Outcomes: In a year of unprecedented upheaval, 92% of the Class of 2020 graduales are settled. 73% are employed, and the remainder are pursuing the next step of their education, internships, or fellowships. Our graduates pursue a wide variety of industries and careers, with the most popular including education, healthcare, finance, and technology.

In the past year, 81% of Bates students and alumni who worked with the Medical Studies Advising Committee were admitted to medical school and 100% were admitted to dental school. 100% of the Class of 2020 who applied to law school were admitted as well. Finally, 24 young alumni were awarded the prestigious Fulbright Fellowship, more than all U.S. bachelor's colleges for the second time in three years.

Bates students tend to be up for just about anything. It's a good thing we have about three dozen majors and two dozen minors to choose from.

Some are liberal-arts classics (history, mathematics, philosophy). Some are STEM-focused (neuroscience, engineering, digital & computational studies). Many draw from more than one discipline (American cultural studies, environmental studies, biochemistry, gender & sexuality studies). Some won't exist until you invent them.