About the college
A public college that stayed small on purpose.
Merritt was chartered in 1871 to train Vermont teachers. It grew into a four-year liberal arts college without ever dropping the founding promise: a student should be able to walk into any professor's office hours without an appointment.
The college today
- Years since the 1871 charter
- 155
- Full-time faculty
- 218
- Students who are first in their family to attend college
- 62%
- Acres on College Hill
- 41
Milestones
- 1871
Normal school opens · Founders Hall
Twenty-two students enrol in a two-year teacher-training programme on the hill above Burlington.
- 1948
Four-year degrees begin · Board of Trustees
The college adds biology, history and English majors and doubles its faculty in five years.
- 1989
The freshwater lab opens · Lakeshore Station
A teaching lab on the water begins annual monitoring of Lake Champlain, with students collecting every sample.
- 2024
Tuition freeze for residents · State legislature
Vermont funds a three-year freeze on resident tuition, the longest in the college's history.