Academic Life at Bowdoin College

Academics at a Glance

Academics are the heart of the college experience. This overview pulls together the essentials of academic life at Bowdoin College: its faculty, its majors and fields of study, and its online learning options.

Use the sections below to explore each part of academic life in more detail, or follow a link to the full report on that topic:

• Faculty Resources
• Most Popular Majors
• Additional Questions to Ask
• Continue Your Research

Faculty and Teaching

At a student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, Bowdoin College offers far more individual attention than the national average of 15 to 1. With 88% of instructors full time, Bowdoin College is above the national average of 47%.

For the full breakdown — tenure status, part-time and adjunct share, and how the faculty compares with the national average — see the faculty composition report.

Majors & Degrees

Bowdoin College offers 30 majors with reported completions across 15 broad fields of study.

The degree levels available at Bowdoin College are shown below:

Ranked by number of graduates, these are the most popular majors at Bowdoin College.

See the full majors breakdown on the academic majors report.

More to Consider

Before you decide, here are a few more questions to consider about academics at Bowdoin College:

• Need flexibility? Check whether Bowdoin College offers the online or summer classes that fit your schedule. See distance learning options.
• Thinking about graduate school? Consider how many students continue their studies and how well the school retains and graduates its students (97% of full-time freshmen return for a second year). See graduation and retention.
• Will a degree land you a job? Ask how many graduates were employed full time a year after finishing.

Continue Your Research into Bowdoin College

Follow the links below for a deeper look at a specific part of academic life:

• Majors & Degree Programs at Bowdoin College — every major and degree program offered
• Faculty & Class Sizes at Bowdoin College — the full faculty and class-size breakdown
• Graduation and Retention at Bowdoin College — graduation outcomes and retention detail
• Online Learning at Bowdoin College — distance-learning enrollment detail
• Accreditation at Bowdoin College — regional and program accreditation status