About The College of Idaho
The College of Idaho is a private liberal arts college that prepares students to lead productive and fulfilling lives. Founded in 1891, the College is home to around 1100 undergraduate students and is the state's oldest four-year institution of higher learning. Our campus is located at 2112 Cleveland Boulevard, Caldwell, Idaho.
We offer a living and learning experience that engages students and equips them with the skills and understanding necessary to flourish in a rapidly changing, diverse, and technologically informed world. We emphasize frequent and meaningful interaction with faculty, staff, and administration, the exploration of challenging ideas, and a well-rounded course of study in the liberal arts disciplines enriched by pre-professional and interdisciplinary programs in tandem with co-curricular student life experiences. We are committed to excellence in academic instruction and scholarship, and to the values of community, integrity, leadership, and service.
The College has been accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities since 1922. Our teacher education program has been approved by the Idaho State Department of Education since 1913, and our graduates are eligible for certification in all states participating in the Interstate Certification Compact.
The College of Idaho is located on a beautiful, residential campus in Caldwell. Tree-lined paths connect historic academic buildings, seven residence halls and the Village apartments, athletics facilities, scenic Morrison Quadrangle and McCain Student Center. In recent years, the College has completed major renovations to Simplot Dining Hall, Boone Science Hall, Jewett Auditorium, West Hall: Center for Physician Assistant Studies and Simplot Stadium, which is home to the Coyote football, soccer and lacrosse teams. In addition, the College has recently constructed the Marty Holly Athletics Center and Wolfe Field Baseball Stadium, creating outstanding fitness facilities for student-athletes and the entire campus. The Cruzen-Murray Library, a national award-winning, state-of-the-art learning center for the campus, opened in spring 2018.
Students at The College of Idaho learn through our unique PEAK curriculum that unites liberal arts learning with professional perspectives. Students also learn in and through our distinctive location on the western Snake River plain between the foothills of the Boise Ridge and the Owyhee Mountains. Our location in Caldwell, a city of more than 50,000 people, is 30 minutes from Boise, Idaho's rapidly growing capital and home to museums, shopping, concerts, fine arts events, restaurants, and high-tech industries. We are a short drive from ski resorts, high plains deserts, mountains, hiking and biking trails, and whitewater rivers.
Who We Are
We are an inclusive community of exceptional learning that challenges the ambitious and forges pathways to success and purpose.
Our Tradition
Since by its charter The College of Idaho is not controlled by any political entity, it is free to establish its own educational policy, to set its own requirements for admission, to determine its own course of study, and to determine its requirements for graduation. Thus our courses in religion are nonsectarian, and our admission policy is formulated without regard to sex, race, color, age, religion, disability, national and ethnic origin, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity. The College values and is committed to the faith of its founders, and it therefore opposes oppression of all kinds—physical, intellectual, religious, political, economic, sexual, and social.
For more than a century, The College of Idaho has produced graduates who have become leaders in business, science, medicine, law, education, the arts, and government. Alumni include three former governors, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, an Academy Award-winning musician, the co-discoverer of vitamin B-12, and the co-founder of Patagonia Outerwear.
Our Mission
The College of Idaho is a private, residential liberal arts college that prepares students to lead productive and fulfilling lives. We are committed to an innovative, individualized curriculum in liberal arts and professional studies, to building community, and to exercising stewardship.
Core Mission Themes
Transforming Liberal Arts and Professional Education
Challenging students to:
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Think broadly, by wide exposure to the fields of knowledge that constitute a liberal arts curriculum
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Think deeply, by sustained exploration of a specific discipline
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Combine this breadth and depth to develop skills in:
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Problem Solving
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Analytic Reasoning
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Critical Thinking
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Written Communication
Building Community
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A Responsible Community
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A Resourceful Community
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A Reflective Community
Exercising Stewardship of
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Our Environment
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Our People
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Our Resources