St. John's College

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St. John's distinctive liberal arts curriculum and educational practices have long given it a highly respected place among American colleges and universities. Its strong commitment to collaborative inquiry and the study of original texts make St. John's College an incredibly vibrant community of learning. Through close engagement with the works of some of the world's greatest writers and thinkers—from Homer, Plato, and Euclid to Nietzsche, Einstein, and Woolf—students at St. John's College grapple with fundamental questions that confront us as human beings. As they participate in lively discussions and throw themselves into the activity of translating, writing, demonstrating, conducting experiments, and analyzing musical compositions, St. John's students learn to speak articulately, read attentively, reason effectively, and think creatively.
All classes at St. John's College are small, and students take active responsibility for their education, formulating questions, and developing their thoughts in dialogue with one another. Faculty at St. John's College share the college's dedication to an education that privileges intellectual engagement over rigid expertise; they regard themselves as guides and mentors whose task is not to transmit information but to pose questions that further students' ability to develop as thinkers in their own right. Every student's contribution receives serious consideration as classes delve into discussions of foundational works of philosophy, literature, history, theology, politics, economics, psychology, music, mathematics, and the laboratory sciences.
By immersing themselves in these investigations, by examining their ideas in conversation with faculty and fellow students and exploring their insights in their written work, students acquire formidable skills and cultivate enduring habits of critical analysis and thinking. They learn to take themselves and others seriously as reasoning and feeling beings, work together as collaborators and colleagues, and lead fruitful lives of independent reflection and shared activity. In addition to the undergraduate program, St. John's students may earn a master of arts degrees through the Graduate Institute.
St. John's is one college with two spectacular campuses—one in Annapolis, Maryland, and one in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Students enrolled at either campus can transfer to the other, and many students choose to spend a year at the other campus. Both campuses are beautifully situated in historic state capitals: Santa Fe hugs the slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Northern New Mexico, while Annapolis lies on the shores of College Creek, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. The two campuses share the same interdisciplinary academic program while offering a broad range of opportunities and experiences.
St. John's College faculty are dedicated to teaching and are readily available to students. All classes are small (13 to 19 students), ensuring that every student has a voice. The overall faculty-student ratio is 1 to 8. Paper conferences, informal study groups, the "Take a Tutor to Lunch" program, and a wide variety of extracurricular activities provide any number of occasions for students to interact with faculty members.
St. John's College students pursue all manner of activities outside the classroom. The college has a lively theatrical tradition, a host of musical groups ranging from madrigal singers to lunch-time jam sessions, art and photography clubs, language study groups, and an active intramural sports program. In Annapolis, the sailing and rowing teams compete in several regattas each year; other intercollegiate offerings in Annapolis include the fencing team and the croquet club. In Santa Fe, the Search and Rescue team allows students to develop their backcountry skills and contribute an essential service to the region.
Also, students in Santa Fe take advantage of hiking trails that begin from the college campus, skiing in the Santa Fe Ski Basin and the Taos Ski Valley, camping in the nearby Santa Fe National Forest, and the many cultural attractions of the town of Santa Fe. Students in Annapolis explore the adjacent waters, enjoy life on the town's lively waterfront, and visit Baltimore and Washington, DC. Both campuses also offer students a variety of opportunities to become involved in the local community's life.
St. John's draws students from all 50 states and some 20 foreign countries. The diverse backgrounds and experiences they bring to the college deepen and enrich their shared investigations.
Statistics show that St. John's College students excel in their endeavors both at the college and after graduation. Almost 70 percent of St. John's graduates pursue advanced degrees—many enter the nation's leading humanities, science, business, law, and medical programs. St. John's College is in the top two percent of all colleges in the nation for alumni earning PhDs in the humanities and in the top four percent for earning them in science or engineering.
One of St. John's College's many striking features, however, is that there is no typical St. John's graduate: St. John's graduates pursue all manner of careers. They become authors, winemakers, musicians, filmmakers, teachers, astrophysicists—whatever they choose.
After a successful pilot program in 2016, St. John's Career Services has launched a Job Shadowing Program to provide opportunities to spend time with working alumni in a diverse array of fields. Students will have the opportunity to shadow alumni in the spring after the end of the school year, allowing them to explore career options and engage in experiences that will help guide them as they plan for the future.

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