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News Release — Sterling College

Jan. 23, 2019

CONTACT:

Katie Lavin

802.586.7711 x120

[email protected]

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Sterling College Named Teach-Out Partner in Green Mountain College’s Closure

January 23, 2019- Craftsbury Common, Vt.- Sterling College announced today that it will participate in a teach-out arrangement for students at Green Mountain College after the Poultney-based campus confirmed that it will close at the end of this spring semester. Sterling is one of three Vermont colleges participating in the teach-out program. The others include Marlboro College and Castleton University.

“Green Mountain College and Sterling College have been leaders in environmental education here in Vermont and throughout New England for decades, and we are deeply saddened to learn of their closing,” said President Matthew Derr. “We are also humbled that Sterling has been asked by Green Mountain to support a teach-out effort for current students, so that they may continue to reside in Vermont and complete their studies at Sterling.”

Small rural liberal arts colleges are facing difficult times. While the news about Green Mountain is sobering for similar institutions, Sterling continues to thrive and grow, and Green Mountain students should feel confident in Sterling’s ability to serve them should they choose to complete their education here. With a balanced budget, modest debt load and $17 million raised in gifts, grants and pledges over the last five and a half years, Sterling continues to attract talented and committed faculty while expanding programming and significantly improving its facilities.

Sterling’s most recent faculty appointment, Philip Ackerman-Leist, formerly of Green Mountain College, noted, “After more than two decades of building the Green Mountain College farm, sustainable agriculture major, and the nation’s first online graduate program in sustainable food systems, the news of Green Mountain’s closure is heart-wrenching. The consolation for me is that in my new role as Dean of the School of the New American Farmstead, I am able to take so much of what I learned at Green Mountain and utilize it for the benefit of Sterling, the college that I think best honors and advances the legacy of Green Mountain’s academic programs and sense of community. I hope that a number of Green Mountain students also discover that the path to Sterling is a natural one, with familiar companions waiting on the other end.”

“Sterling will do everything in its power to make the transition as seamless as possible – academically, financially and in all other ways,” said Tim Patterson, Dean of Admission & Financial Aid. “Under the teach-out arrangement, Green Mountain students can transfer existing credits to Sterling and remain on track for degree completion while maintaining the same level of financial support provided by Green Mountain.”

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A recently-completed mapping of Green Mountain degree programs to Sterling’s available on our website [https://sterlingcollege.edu/sterling-welcomes-gmc/] shows that the two colleges’ degree programs match up exceptionally well. Students who are enrolled in these “matching” programs have the option of completing their current program at Sterling. Students enrolled in GMC programs that do not correspond directly with Sterling College programs should consider completing a Self-Designed Major at Sterling College. Self-Designed Majors are a common degree pathway at Sterling, and students often incorporate academic credit from other institutions into a unique Self-Designed Major.

Students who are transitioning from Green Mountain College do not have to complete a full application for admission. For details, please email [email protected] or visit https://sterlingcollege.edu/sterling-welcomes-gmc/