Bard College

Bard's graduate programs offer specialized courses of study in the studio and performing arts, the cultural history of the material world, the curating of the contemporary visual arts, environmental policy and education, sustainable business, economic theory and policy, and discipline-based teaching for secondary schools.

The mission of The Bard College Conservatory of Music is to provide the best possible preparation for a person dedicated to a life immersed in the creation and performance of music.

The Bard Prison Initiative (BPI) works to redefine the availability, affordability, and expectations typically associated with higher education in America.

Since 2001, BPI has created groundbreaking opportunities for college within America’s prison systems. These programs transform the negative impacts of criminal punishment and create radical inroads of access and opportunity to higher learning.

The Center for Civic Engagement at Bard College embodies the fundamental belief that education and civil society are inextricably linked. In an age of information overload, it is more important than ever that citizens be educated and trained to think critically and be actively engaged with issues affecting public life. Through its educational endeavors in the United States and abroad, CCE demonstrates a firm conviction that institutions of higher education can and should operate in the public interest.

At Bard Academy and Bard College at Simon's Rock, age doesn't define intellect: our mission is to inspire the curiosity and creativity of motivated younger scholars with a challenging, empowering, and inclusive education in the liberal arts and sciences.

Bard College at Simon’s Rock is the only four-year college in the United States specifically designed to allow bright, highly motivated adolescents to fully realize their intellectual and creative potential by beginning college immediately after the 10th or 11th grade.

Bard Academy at Simon’s Rock is an independent boarding school that prepares bright, motivated 9th- and 10th-grade students to enter college two years early at Bard College at Simon’s Rock.

Offering students both significant autonomy and appropriate support, Simon’s Rock fosters a diverse community of intellectual and chronological peers. Under the guidance of talented and dedicated faculty, students learn to formulate and defend their own ideas; to engage with the ideas of others; and to become innovative thinkers who contribute with purpose to the world around them.