Founded in 1866, Carleton College is a small, private liberal arts college in the historic river town of Northfield, Minnesota. Best known for its academic excellence and warm, welcoming campus community, Carleton offers 32 majors in the arts, humanities, natural sciences/mathematics, and social sciences.
The mission of Carleton College is to provide an exceptional undergraduate liberal arts education. In pursuit of this mission, the College is devoted to academic excellence, distinguished by the creative interplay of teaching, learning, and scholarship, dedicated to our diverse residential community and extensive international engagements.
The College aspires to prepare students to lead lives of learning that are broadly rewarding, professionally satisfying, and of service to humanity. By discovering and sharing exemplary undergraduate education models, the College seeks to be a leader among those colleges, universities, and professional organizations that share our dedication to this vision.
Carleton strives to be a collaborative community that encourages curiosity and intellectual adventure of the highest quality. Faculty, staff, and students respect one another for the serious work and the playful humor we share, and we support each other in pursuing a healthy balance of mind, body, and spirit. Quiet reflection and lively engagement are valued as sources of self-understanding and renewal. Carleton honors thoughtful conversations about difficult questions as necessary for individual growth and community strength. The College works to embody the values of freedom of inquiry and expression. It is vigilant in protecting these values within a culture of academic integrity, civil deliberation, and ethical action. Carleton aims to be welcoming and hospitable to its neighbors, guests, and the public, and a responsible steward of its resources.
Carleton College is committed to providing a proper liberal arts education, a curriculum that challenges our students to learn broadly and think deeply. Instead of training for one narrow career path, Carleton students develop the knowledge and skills to succeed in any life walk.
"Education is a potent tool, and it can impact people's lives in many different ways," says Maraki Ketema '15. "At Carleton, you are allowed to learn not only for yourself but also for society."" This place allows you to work a bit outside your comfort zone. You have to do that in academics. The liberal arts focus forces you. However, it is not a thing that anyone at Carleton dreads," says Nate Livingston '16, who majored in chemistry. The most important thing our students gain is how to learn for a lifetime. Critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, effective communication: these are the tools that transform a collection of facts and figures into a way of understanding the world.
Carleton's student body is notoriously difficult to categorize, but if we had to choose just one word to describe them, it would be curious. They're an intellectually insatiable group that approaches learning with enthusiasm, energy, and a uniquely Carleton brand of playfulness. Broad-ranging interests are common, and friendships seem to cross all traditional boundaries.
When people visit Carleton, they're often surprised by the warmth and closeness of the campus community. Somehow they expect a leading liberal arts college to feel more formidable and competitive. However, as our students and alumni will tell you, there's just something different about Carleton. Maybe it's our small size (2,000 students). Alternatively, maybe it's the round-the-clock proximity of so many creative minds (most students live and socialize on campus). Whatever the reason, Carleton is a place where students are likelier to cooperate than compete—and where working hard doesn't mean forgetting how to play.
Carleton College defines itself as an institution that values diversity. This is reflected in the importance and pride the College places in a student body that include a balanced number of men and women and includes people from a variety of racial, ethnic, socio-economic, religious, sexual, and national identities. The College recognizes the traditional liberal arts goal of expanding students' intellectual horizons by exposing all students to a diversity of cultures and analyzing the experience of being different.
Founded in 1866, Carleton College was the dream of Minnesota pioneers who understood that human knowledge is the real frontier. We've been exploring it here ever since. Carleton is the fourth oldest private institution of higher education in Minnesota. Carleton was founded on October 12, 1866, by the General Conference of the Congregational Churches of Minnesota, which—after considering locations in Zumbrota, Mantorville, Cottage Grove, and Lake City—chose Northfield for the home of its new College. (Note: Carleton is now a non-denominational college with no formal religious affiliation.)
Carleton's founder was Northfield businessman and Congregationalist Charles M. Goodsell, for whom the College's observatory is named. He encouraged the church to open a Minnesota college and donated part of its original 20 acres. The first instructor hired was Horace Goodhue, Jr., for whom a campus dormitory was later named. The earliest Carleton students, both men and women, arrived in 1867 to attend classes in the former American House hotel. That three-story building, located in downtown Northfield, presented some severe challenges to its residents. According to Carleton archivist Eric Hillemann, sources from the time reported that the building's plumbing was disgraceful, it is heating meager, and its mice legion. The new school met with severe financial challenges until 1871 when Massachusetts brass wares manufacturer William Carleton agreed to donate $50,000 to the College that now bears his name.
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