Amherst Today

We prepare students to use ideas to make a difference in the world. Since our 1821 founding, Amherst has demonstrated steadfast confidence in the value of the liberal arts and the importance of critical thinking. Today, our financial aid program is among the most substantial in the nation, and our student body is among the most diverse. Small classes, an open curriculum and a singular focus on undergraduate education ensure that leading scholars engage daily with talented, curious students, equipping them for leadership in an increasingly global and complex world.

Facts about Amherst

More Facts

54

Amherst looks like the world, because our students come from 54 countries, including many places and populations historically underrepresented in higher education.

<30

Our classes enroll fewer than 30 students. And with our open curriculum, classrooms are filled with engaged students, fully committed to the topic at hand.

22,500

Amherst College students can connect to a network of 22,500 alumni—people who live all over the world and are leaders in practically every field imaginable.

Strategic Plan

Our Strategy

The seven priorities outlined in our strategic plan reaffirm our commitment to the liberal arts in an era of dramatic change, preparing our graduates to enter the world.

Strategic Plan
groups of students sit on the grass at sunset at a campus farm cookout

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Amherst is proud of its work to recruit, admit and enroll a diverse student body. We’re dedicated to creating a sense of belonging in our close-knit community. 

Diversity & Inclusion Action Against Racism
A group of students in a tent working over a table of seedlings

Sustainability

Sustainability is a core principle that guides all of Amherst College’s operations—from the food served (and grown on our own campus farm) to the vehicles driven. With our Climate Action Plan, we’re aiming to achieve climate neutrality by 2030.

Sustainability Climate Action Plan