Champlain College

Private · Moderately Selective · VT

Photo: Nightspark (Public domain)

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationVT · Northeast

SettingUrban

Undergrads2,752

Student:faculty13:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate56.3%

6-yr grad rate65.2%

Drop-out rate18.3%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$48k

Out-of-state tuition$48k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity32.9%

Gender diversity39.1%

International0.2%

Identity—

Overview

Champlain College is a career-focused private college in Burlington, Vermont, built around a curriculum that puts students into their intended profession from the very first semester rather than easing them in through generic gen-eds. Perched on a hill above downtown Burlington overlooking Lake Champlain, it occupies a cluster of converted Victorian mansions that give it a distinctive, non-institutional physical character. Its academic reputation rests heavily on technology and digital fields — game design, cybersecurity, and digital forensics chief among them — areas where Champlain has built a genuinely national name for a college its size.

Academics

The signature "upside-down curriculum" front-loads professional, major-specific coursework into the first year instead of saving it for junior and senior year, on the theory that career-relevant learning should start immediately rather than after two years of general requirements. Game design and development, cybersecurity, and digital forensics are the standout programs, each with genuine industry recognition disproportionate to the college's size. Internships and applied, project-based learning are built into the structure rather than left optional, reflecting the college's career-outcomes-first philosophy.

Campus & student life

Students live largely in the converted Victorian mansions on the hill neighborhood above downtown Burlington, giving campus a residential, almost townhouse-like feel rather than dormitory towers. Lake Champlain and the Green Mountains are immediately visible from campus, and Burlington's small, walkable downtown supplies the college-town amenities a campus this size doesn't provide on its own. A long-running study-abroad presence in Dublin gives students an international option tied closely to the college's professional focus.

Worth knowing

The upside-down curriculum is a real structural difference, not marketing language — students should expect major coursework and professional expectations from semester one, which suits students who already know their intended field more than those wanting room to explore broadly before committing.

champlain.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate82.9%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 1220–1380 · ACT 26–29

Test policyoptional

Rec letters2

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

AdmissionRolling

Applying