Vassar College facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Vassar College

Type	Private liberal arts college
Established	1861; 164 years ago (1861)
Academic affiliations	Annapolis Group CLAC COFHE NAICU Oberlin Group
Endowment	$1.301 billion (2024)
President	Elizabeth H. Bradley
Academic staff	297 FT/ 61 PT (2023)
Undergraduates	2,456 (2023)
Location	Poughkeepsie Town, New York , U.S. 41°41′15″N 73°53′45″W / 41.68750°N 73.89583°W / 41.68750; -73.89583
Campus	Suburban, 1,000 acres (400 ha)
Newspaper	The Miscellany News
Colors	Burgundy and gray
Nickname	Brewers
Sporting affiliations	NCAA Division III – Liberty League
Mascot	The Brewer

Vassar College is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York. It was founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar as a school for women. At the time, it was only the second college in the United States that gave degrees to women. In 1969, the college began accepting men and is now open to everyone.

Vassar offers degrees in more than 50 subjects. The college's sports teams are called the Brewers and play in the NCAA Division III Liberty League. As of 2023, about 2,450 students attend Vassar.

The college is one of the historic Seven Sisters, a group of top colleges that were originally just for women. The campus is very large, covering over 1,000 acres with more than 100 buildings. It is also an arboretum, which means it's a special place for growing many types of trees. The campus has over 200 kinds of trees and a large nature area.

History

An 1861 oil portrait of Matthew Vassar by Charles Loring Elliott

Vassar was founded in 1861 as "Vassar Female College." Its founder, Matthew Vassar, was a brewer who wanted to create a top-level school for women. A year later, he removed the word "Female" from the name. The college officially began accepting men in 1969.

Vassar was the second of the Seven Sisters colleges. These schools were seen as partners to the all-male Ivy League colleges. The first scientist hired by Vassar was the famous astronomer Maria Mitchell in 1865.

The Main Building, built in 1861, was one of the largest buildings in the United States at the time.

Before Vassar started accepting men, it considered joining with Yale University. However, the college decided to remain independent and invite men to study at its own campus instead.

In its early days, many students at Vassar came from wealthy and influential families. Even future U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt served as a trustee for the college.

Today, about 2,450 students go to Vassar, and most of them live on campus. The college has an 8-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio, which means classes are small, with an average of 17 students. This allows students to get more attention from their professors.

Students gather on the lawn in front of the Vassar College Library.

Vassar has a need-blind admissions policy. This means the college accepts students based on their achievements, not on how much money their family has.

Presidents of Vassar

Vassar has had many presidents throughout its history. Here is a list of them and when they served.

Campus

Vassar's campus is a beautiful, 1,000-acre space with over 100 buildings. The buildings show off many different architectural styles, from classic Gothic to modern designs.

Famous Buildings

The Vassar College Observatory is a National Historic Landmark on campus.

The Main Building is a key landmark on campus. When it opened in 1865, it was one of the largest buildings in the country. It was designed by architect James Renwick Jr. and used to hold the entire college, including classrooms, dorms, and a library. Both the Main Building and the original Vassar College Observatory are National Historic Landmarks.

Another interesting building is Noyes House, a dormitory designed by Eero Saarinen in 1958. It has a unique, futuristic look and is often used for concerts and readings.

Libraries

Vassar's Thompson Library is the main library on campus.

Vassar has eight libraries with about 1 million books and thousands of magazines and newspapers. It has one of the largest library collections of any undergraduate college in the United States. The libraries also have special collections with items from famous people like Albert Einstein and Elizabeth Bishop.

The main library is the Thompson Memorial Library. Another library, the Van Ingen Art Library, was renovated to restore its original 1937 appearance.

Art and Science Centers

The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center is the college's art museum. It features a wide range of art, including a gallery for photography.

In 2011, Vassar began a major project to improve its science buildings. This included building the Bridge for Laboratory Sciences, a modern facility that connects to other science buildings on campus.

The Bridge for Laboratory Sciences was completed in 2016.

Student Housing

Most students live on campus in one of the nine residence halls, or dorms. Some of the dorms, like Strong House and Jewett House, were built over 100 years ago and have classic architectural styles. Others, like Noyes House, are more modern.

Older students often live in on-campus apartments. Vassar guarantees housing for all of its full-time students, so everyone has a place to live.

What You Can Study

Rockefeller Hall is home to the Political Science, Philosophy, and Mathematics departments.

Vassar is a liberal arts college, which means students study a wide variety of subjects. Students can choose from over 50 majors.

Based on graduates from 2021, the most popular majors were:

• Biology
• Economics
• Political Science and Government
• English
• Biochemistry
• Neuroscience
• Computer Science

Getting into Vassar

Vassar is a very selective college. For the class that started in the fall of 2023, the college received over 12,000 applications and accepted about 18% of them. Students who are accepted usually have very high grades and test scores. For example, 79% of new students were in the top 10% of their high school class.

College Rankings

Vassar is often ranked as one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country. In 2025, U.S. News & World Report ranked Vassar as the 12th best liberal arts college in the United States. It has also been praised for its financial aid, value, and support for students from different backgrounds.

Student Life

Life at Vassar is full of fun traditions and activities outside of class.

Traditions

Vassar students celebrating Founder's Day in 1935.

One of the biggest events of the year is Founder's Day. It started as a surprise birthday party for the college's founder, Matthew Vassar. Today, it's a huge festival with music, games, and a different theme each year. Past themes have included Alice in Wonderland, Dinosaurs, and Nintendo.

Clubs and Groups

An a cappella group performing in 2014.

Vassar has many student-run clubs and organizations.

• Music: There are nine a cappella groups, which are singing groups that don't use instruments. The Night Owls are one of the oldest college a cappella groups in the country. Other groups sing everything from show tunes to Disney songs.
• Theater: The oldest theater group on campus is the Philaletheis Society, founded in 1865. There are many other groups for different types of theater, including experimental plays, musicals, and Shakespeare.
• Comedy: The college has several sketch comedy and improv groups that put on shows for students.
• Newspaper: The Miscellany News is the student newspaper. It has been published every week since 1866, making it one of the oldest college newspapers in the U.S.

Sports

Vassar athletics logo

Vassar's sports teams are called the Brewers. The name comes from founder Matthew Vassar, whose family owned a successful brewery. The teams compete in Division III of the NCAA.

The college has teams for many sports, including volleyball, cycling, and rugby. In 2018, the women's rugby team won a national championship, which was a first for the school.

Vassar's Quidditch team, inspired by the Harry Potter books.

Famous People from Vassar

Many famous and successful people have graduated from Vassar College.

• 

  Elizabeth Bishop, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet

• 

  Anthony Bourdain, author and TV host

• 

  Mary Calderone, doctor and health advocate

• 

  Jane Fonda, Academy Award-winning actress

• 

  Anne Hathaway, Academy Award-winning actress

• 

  Grace Hopper, a pioneer in computer programming

• 

  Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, former First Lady of the United States

• 

  Lisa Kudrow, Emmy Award-winning actress

• 

  Edna St. Vincent Millay, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet

• 

  Elisabeth Murdoch, media executive

• 

  Mark Ronson, Grammy Award-winning musician

• 

  Meryl Streep, Academy Award-winning actress

• 

  Anita Florence Hemmings, first known graduate of Vassar with African ancestry

Some notable alumni include:

• Meryl Streep (1971), a three-time Academy Award-winning actress.
• Lisa Kudrow (1985), an Emmy Award-winning actress known for playing Phoebe on Friends.
• Grace Hopper (1928), a computer scientist who helped invent early programming languages.
• Elizabeth Bishop (1934), a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet.
• Edna St. Vincent Millay (1917), another Pulitzer Prize-winning poet.
• Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, former First Lady of the United States (attended but did not graduate).
• Anne Hathaway, an Academy Award-winning actress (attended but did not graduate).
• Mark Ronson, an Academy Award-winning musician and producer (attended but did not graduate).
• Anthony Bourdain, a famous chef and television host (attended but did not graduate).

See also

In Spanish: Vassar College para niños