Green Mountain College was founded in 1834 by the Troy Conference of the United Methodist Church. The co-educational Academy was seen as an embodiment of the Methodist church's interest in preparing young people to be good citizens and productive members of society.
Green Mountain College is still dedicated to the ideals of making our students caring and productive citizens. 173 years later, strong teacher-student relationships and lasting friendships continue to be the hallmark of a Green Mountain education.
One hundred years after its founding, the Academy's visionary leader, Dr. Jesse P. Bogue, led the transformation of the institution from Troy Conference Academy into Green Mountain Junior College. Ten years later, when many of the College's male students left for World War II, Green Mountain became a women's college. The College's spirit of innovative educational programs continued through the next three decades with the development of strong pre-professional programs. In 1974, the College returned to co-educational status and began granting four-year degrees.
Today, Green Mountain is known as Vermont's Environmental Liberal Arts College, following the adoption of the environment as a unifying theme for its liberal arts and pre-professional curricula in 1995.
This values-based mission encourages students to understand how natural, physical, and social forces work together and how they, as individuals, can be agents for positive change. All graduates of Green Mountain leave with a better understanding of our complex world, and how their leadership can help solve the challenges of the 21st century.
