The College

Burlington College is an independent, progressive, liberal arts college located in Burlington, Vermont, offering two-year Associate and four-year Bachelor of Arts degrees, as well as several professional certificate programs. The College, originally the Vermont Institute of Community Involvement, is fully accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and is a non-profit institution.

Our founders’ intention was to create an undergraduate institution firmly rooted in concern for, and interaction with, the greater Burlington community. The College continues to offer rich and diverse opportunities for its students to participate in arts related events, the natural environment, and civic and humanitarian projects.

The College’s mission affirms the innate dignity of every human being and gives direction to a program of education that addresses learners as individuals and helps them increase their awareness, knowledge and competence. Students are actively engaged in planning and implementing their education in an atmosphere of open communication and shared responsibility. This collaborative approach is valued by our students, many of whom are balancing their need for higher learning against the demands of single-parenthood, family and work.

Creative adaptation of strong liberal arts curricula in Humanities, Fine Arts and the Social Sciences has led to the focused development of majors in Transpersonal Psychology, Cinema Studies and Film Production, and Legal and Justice Studies. Students carry out service to the community as an integral component of their education at Burlington College and a new Institute for Civic Engagement was inaugurated this year to better enable the College to research, educate, publish, and take action on issues of importance to Vermont and the wider world community.