What makes Warren Wilson College special is its unorthodox approach to education. Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains outside Asheville, North Carolina, it offers a radically different approach to higher education.
PTP founder Marcia Kramer has visited several times and recalls once seeing students working on the grounds, splayed in dirt with tools; they were fixing a shed as part of the Work Program. On another visit, she experienced the Swannanoa Festival, a five-week summer celebration that honors the music and dance traditions of southern Appalachia. Plan the Path has guided two students to Warren Wilson College, both of whom earned degrees and now work in the science field.
“It’s hard to say what made it feel like the right fit,” says Kylie Taylor, a social work and outdoor leadership double major at Warren Wilson. “Going to the admissions office and being handed a dozen eggs and tea made at the herb cabin… I was like, this is not a state school, this is not a normal college.”
Warren Wilson is designed for the student who loves the environment, values hands-on learning, and thrives in a close-knit community. The college offers specialized resources for LGBTQIA+ students, and consistently offers events centered on social justice, diversity, and equity.
With fewer than a thousand students and a 12-to-1 faculty ratio, Warren Wilson fosters a tight-knit sense of community. All campus operations are run by student work crews, from managing the library to raising livestock and harvesting timber. Working 8 to 15 hours per week is a requirement to graduate, and allows students to put at least $3,000 per year toward tuition; the annual cost was recently lowered from $41,500 to $25,500, in an effort to make an already distinctive education more accessible. In itself, this is a remarkable decision on the part of the college when tuition costs are rising each year.
Located in the Blue Ridge Mountain town of Swannanoa, Warren Wilson is surrounded by 16 miles of hiking trails across hundreds of acres of forest. The agrarian campus is a reflection of the school’s commitment to sustainability and has been designated as a Certified Wildlife Habitat, a Native Plant Sanctuary, and a Monarch Butterfly Waystation.
Warren Wilson offers 22 majors, 11 concentrations, and 17 minors. The small academic scope is not for the undecided student, but for the young adult who is interested in Environmental Studies, Conservation Biology, and Outdoor Leadership, it offers a tailored and immersive learning experience. The college is also renowned for its creative writing program, where undergraduates gain access to lectures, readings, and resources from Warren Wilson’s nationally recognized MFA program, the first low-residency MFA program established in the United States.This program boasts some of the finest writers of the 20th Century, including Pulitzer Prize winners Carl Dennis and Jane Smiley.
Warren Wilson isn’t for everyone, but for the student who prefers an intimate setting, and is in search of bold, community-based solutions to the world’s most pressing environmental issues, it may be exactly right.
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