Founded in 1917, Deep Springs College is a unique institution of higher learning. The educational program is built upon three pillars: academics, student self-government, and manual labor. The school is located forty miles from Bishop, California on an isolated cattle ranch in Deep Springs Valley.
Between twelve and fifteen students are admitted each year. Each receives a full scholarship; the college covers the costs of tuition, room, and board for every student offered admission. In exchange, Deep Springs students are expected to dedicate themselves to lives of service to humanity. Alumni have gone on to exemplify this ideal in a wide variety of fields, including politics, science, journalism, academics, agriculture, medicine, law, business, and design.
The three pillars, which comprise students’ formal responsibilities in their two years at the college, together allow each student to take real responsibility for and ownership of the community. Students are expected to bring a high level of preparation and engagement to their classes, which are generally constructed around seminar-style discussion and often have fewer than eight participants. The Student Body is responsible for many aspects of running the college, admitting students, hiring faculty, and reviewing student and faculty performance. Each student also labors for at least twenty hours each week. Labor positions include working on the farm and ranch, as well as other daily tasks such as cooking, cleaning, and maintaining facilities and vehicles.
During our two standard semesters, September-December and January-April, we have two or three visiting scholars and artists teaching at Deep Springs. Visiting professors teach one class, usually in their specialty or discipline. Deep Springs seeks visiting professors in liberal arts disciplines to teach one class as a visitor in either the Fall Semester 2021 (September – December) or Winter Semester 2022 (January – April). Applications are now open and will close January 15th, 2021.