College History

History Goddard College began in 1863 as the Green Mountain Central Institute. Goddard as an institution has traversed three centuries, and has consistently transformed itself as a reflection of the times and of the needs of students.

Goddard as seminary spanned 1863 to 1937; Goddard as college moved to the Greatwood Campus at Plainfield, Vermont, in 1938. In 1963, the College organized its Adult Degree Program, the prototype of the current intensive residency model. It was the first program of its kind in the country, and a direct outcome of a 1959 grant from the Ford Foundation that underwrote a six-year experiment in “curriculum organization.” Seeds from Goddard experiments have germinated in many institutions across the country.

Goddard College as 21st century learning community now focuses on bachelor of arts, bachelor of fine arts, master of arts, and master of fine arts degrees delivered through intensive residency programs to a college community dispersed throughout the United States and, increasingly, the world.

Goddard has remained out of the ordinary throughout its history. A Goddard education always required practical engagement designed through an individualized curriculum model. Goddard is proud to continue its commitment to educating students who will think, speak, and act responsibly.

As enrollment at Goddard continues to grow, educational experiments are usually underway, resulting in new programs, now including the MA in Sustainable Business and Communities, and the BFA in Creative Writing. Goddard offers intensive residencies for two programs in Port Townsend, Washington: the MFA in Creative Writing and the MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts.

President Pitkin, the first Goddard president known to all as “Tim,” was a graduate of Goddard Seminary and the University of Vermont. He earned a doctorate at Columbia’s Teachers College, where he came to know William Heard Kilpatrick. When he returned to Vermont, the seeds of Goddard College sprouted. In reflecting upon what happened in 1938, when Goddard moved to Plainfield, he said: “Many people would regard what we did as radical…I didn’t think of Goddard as a radical college. As I look back on it, it was. We attempted to get down to the roots of education.” In that spirit, Goddard College is a bastion of truly student-centered, progressive education.