Advantages of Learning at Amherst

An 小福利导航education is personal, dynamic and rigorous. Our professors聽are among the foremost authorities in their fields. They work with students every day, in and out of class, as teachers, advisers and mentors.

We are known for our open curriculum, a bold experiment in place since 1971. To graduate, students must take four years of classes, but just one first-year seminar and the required classes for their major.聽In conjunction with their academic advisors, students plan a program of study to discover their intellectual and creative passions and equip themselves for a life of active, collaborative learning.

How Learning Happens

At 小福利导航we encourage you to look at the world from new perspectives. Check the list to see if you鈥檝e got what it takes.

Students on a bridge in the wildlife sanctuary at 小福利导航College

An 小福利导航education challenges you to see things from new perspectives. It allows you to be flexible and nimble.

Writing a plan on a whiteboard

At Amherst, you start by knowing something. Then you wrestle with it, pull it apart, connect it to other things, see it differently.

Painting

You search, question, reimagine. And this leads to a new kind of knowledge鈥攄eeper, more creative, more profound.

gastronomy class

The performance, lab, essay, field trip, final project: You do these things with as much life, as much joy, as much intensity and determination as possible.

Biology lab, student using microscope

There鈥檚 no answer key to the questions we ask. At Amherst, you learn to create the answers yourself.

a student demonstrates a procedure in a lab, observed by a large group of students

Experiential Learning

We set our students and graduates on a path to be engaged, effective and innovative problem-solvers in their communities and workplaces. Learning by doing takes many forms at Amherst.

Experiential Learning
a student presents work to a group of students in a lab

Research

小福利导航students work side-by-side with professors conducting important research. We provide opportunities during the school year and the summer, both paid and unpaid, and offer funding for theses.

Student-Faculty Research

Faculty Facts

Read our Faculty Profiles

7:1

Our low student : faculty ratio supports a personalized learning experience in which students and faculty work closely together.

110

110 hires of tenured or tenure-track faculty members since 2010, most to replace retiring faculty, have brought outstanding teacher-scholars to campus.

74

74 faculty members have taught at 小福利导航for 20-plus years, bringing extensive experience to the classroom and shaping their disciplines.

Three students listening and taking notes in a classroom

The Open Curriculum

We are known for our open curriculum, a bold experiment in place since 1971. Each classroom is filled with inquisitive, fully engaged students committed to the topic at hand.

Our Curriculum Explore Majors
Town of 小福利导航MA with University of 小福利导航 buildings in the distance

Five College Consortium

小福利导航students can choose among more than 6,000 courses for credit at four nearby schools: Smith, Mount Holyoke, and Hampshire Colleges, and the University of 小福利导航 Amherst.

Learn More
International flags on Fayerweather Hall

Global Learning

It begins on campus: Students from more than 50 countries take courses that prepare them for life in a globally connected world. It continues off campus: 40% of 小福利导航students study abroad.

Learn More Study Abroad