US College Ranking > United States Universities > Amherst College

Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution,and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009.[2] Students choose courses from 35 major programs, in an unusually open curriculum.
Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its President Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher education in Massachusetts. Amherst remained a men’s college until becoming coeducational in 1975.

Amherst has historically had close relationships and rivalries with Williams College and Wesleyan University which form the Little Three colleges and is a member of the Five College Consortium.

Amherst College was founded in 1821, Amherst College developed out of the secondary school Amherst Academy. The college was originally suggested as an alternate to Williams College, which was struggling to stay open. Although Williams remained open, Amherst was formed and diverged from its Williams roots into an individual institution.

Amherst College Rankings in 2010

• 25 NEW ELITE IVIES – 25 NEW IVY COLLEGES
• TOP 100 PRIVATE COLLEGES RANKING
• TOP 100 LIBERAL ART UNIVERSITY / COLLEGE IN 2010

• FORBES AMERICAN’S BEST COLLEGE RANKINGS IN 2011
• TOP LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGE RANKING IN 2011

Amherst College Tuitions and Fees

When we calculate an aid award, we use a student expense budget that includes both direct charges and out-of-pocket expenses. In 2010-11, the budget includes:

Comprehensive fee (tuition, room and board): $50,820

Other student fees (student activities, campus center programs and residential governance): $702

Health insurance (estimate; may be waived): $1,212

Books and supplies (estimate): $1,000

Personal expenses (estimate): $1,800

Travel (estimate; varies by location): $50-$2,000

COST OF ATTENDANCE: $55,584-$57,534

Schools of Amherst College

	American Studies			Geology
	Anthropology and Sociology*			German
	Art and the History of Art			History
	Asian Languages and Civilizations			Law, Jurisprudence, and Social Thought
	Astronomy			Mathematics
	Biochemistry and Biophysics			Music
	Biology			Neuroscience
	Black Studies			Philosophy
	Chemistry			Physics
	Classics**			Political Science
	Computer Science			Psychology
	Economics			Religion
	English			Russian
	Environmental Studies			Spanish
	European Studies			Theater and Dance
	Film and Media Studies			Women’s and Gender Studies
	French

Amherst College News

• The College of William & Mary Awards Biddy Martin an Honorary Degree - Wed, 16 May 2012
  Amherst College President Biddy Martin recently returned to her undergraduate alma mater, The College of William & Mary, to receive an honorary degree.

• Senior Assembly 2012 - Wed, 9 May 2012
  On Friday, May 4, in Johnson Chapel, faculty, staff and guests joined the Class of 2012 to celebrate Senior Assembly, a traditional ceremony in which the Amherst College faculty honors the graduating students. Dean of the Faculty Gregory Call opened the ceremony and President Biddy Martin presented awards. Lawrence Douglas, Professor of Law, Jurisprudence and Social Thought, spoke, as did two seniors selected by the Class of 2012: Shanika Audige ’12 and Spencer Colin Montgomery Russell ’12.

• Dwell in Possibility: Big Ideas on Little Houses - Wed, 9 May 2012
  The installation Dwell in Possibility will be in Amherst through the end of June. There will be an opening reception at the Emily Dickinson Museum on May 12 at 1 p.m., followed by a 1:30 p.m. poetry reading, featuring texts excerpted in the installation. The opening coincides with the museum’s annual Poetry Walk.

• Taking the Forest to the People - Wed, 9 May 2012
  Titus Chirchir ’13 has been named this year’s Amherst College Dalai Lama Fellow.

• 'Numbers Rule the World' - Thu, 3 May 2012
  n 2010, Jerome Himmelstein, the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Sociology, designed “a numbers course that wasn’t about numbers.” With the Spring 2012 semester coming to a close, he discussed his Mellon Seminar, “Numbers Rule the World.”

• Free Speech: Feingold Talks Campaign Finance at Amherst Colloquium - Thu, 3 May 2012
  “Speech doesn’t corrupt. Money corrupts. Money isn’t speech.” So argued former U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold during his keynote address at an Amherst political science conference on April 20.

• Ilan Stavans on His New Books, Latino Life at Amherst and Beyond - Thu, 26 Apr 2012
  lan Stavans, described by his father in his most recent book as “muy prol�fico,” is certainly living up to that billing this month.

• Hair Braiding in Ancient Greece - Thu, 26 Apr 2012
  On Wednesday, April 18, in a workshop sponsored by the classics department, three students volunteered to have their hair braided like the subjects in the Erechtheum Caryatid statues of Ancient Greece.

• Thesis Statements 2012 - Thu, 26 Apr 2012
  Whether they wrote a radio play, studied zebra fish, analyzed voice changes or tested how jurors respond to attorneys, these seniors agree that their honors theses represent their most challenging and rewarding experiences at Amherst. Watch the soon-to-be graduates discuss their projects.

• Mead Art Museum Receives $1,000,000 Endowment Challenge Grant from Andrew W. Mellon Foundation - Thu, 19 Apr 2012
  The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded Amherst College's Mead Art Museum a $1,000,000 matching grant to endow its Coordinator of College Programs position and thereby ensure the continuation of the museum's successful initiatives to integrate the college's art collection meaningfully into its curriculum.