Colorado College

Colorado College is a liberal arts and sciences institution which follows an unusual degree structure aimed at making sure students study a range of disciplines.

CC’s block plan, conceived in 1970, involves three and a half weeks of study on a particular subject followed by a four day break. Students take eight blocks each academic year and 32 in the course of their four-year programmes. The plan is designed to enable students to gain experience of a wide range of areas, focusing on no more than one at any particular time. The intensive study and lack of subjects being taken simultaneously means that a semester’s worth of material is typically covered in one single block.

CC is based in Colorado Springs, one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country, with views of the Rocky Mountains. It is Colorado’s second most populous city, 70 miles south of Denver, the largest city in the state and the capital, but it also has its own airport, which runs flights to more than 10 American cities.

Founded in 1874, before Colorado had even become a state, and coeducational throughout its history, its first degrees were awarded in 1882. The campus has virtually been rebuilt from scratch since the 1960s.

Alumni include Abdul Aziz Abdul Ghani, the former prime minister of Yemen, James Heckman, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics for his work in econometrics, and David Jenkins, who won figure skating gold in the 1960 Winter Olympics.