Viewbook - Colorado College

In 1874, two years before Colorado became a state, General William Jackson Palmer, founder of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, laid out the city of Colorado Springs along his new rail-line from Denver. Envisioning a model city, and determined that it would be one of intelligence and sophistication, General Palmer contributed funding and set aside a plot of land destined to become Colorado College. He staffed the college with a small faculty of traditionally trained liberal arts scholars from New England and dedicated the resources necessary not only to build the campus but also to attract top minds. Today, we maintain this tradition of attracting internationally acclaimed faculty, just as we preserve General Palmer’s visionary tradition of breaking new ground.

Colorado College Today

A private, four-year liberal arts college, Colorado College is located on a 90-acre campus in downtown Colorado Springs near the base of the 14,110-foot Pikes Peak and about an hour from Denver. Consistently ranked in the top tier in U.S. News & World Report for our academic excellence, CC is the only such college in
the Rocky Mountain region. Best known for our innovative Block Plan, where students take and professors teach only one course at a time, Colorado College offers a new perspective on core classes and standard curriculum. We create small and supportive learning communities with every block and give students the time to participate fully, without distractions. Our students are the best proof that CC is exceptional. They come from every state in the nation and more than 25 countries. They come from a wide range of ethnic, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds, and they have interests as diverse as their backgrounds. Our students are poets, inventors, musicians, performers, and politicians. Our students are independent-minded adventurers who love a challenge. At Colorado College, they find the encouragement and inspiration they need to reach their greatest potential.

How the Block Plan Began

The Block Plan was a bright idea that started with CC professors. At a committee
meeting in early 1968, faculty decided that the conventional two-semester system made
faculty and students feel torn in too many directions and pressed for both time and
energy. Looking for a way to keep the engagement and flexibility of summer school
alive during the regular academic year, they wanted to emphasize smaller classes, more
writing, more discussion, and in-depth study of one subject at a time. In October 1969,
after much faculty input and community discussion, Colorado College adopted the
Colorado College Plan, now known as the Block Plan.

A frequent complaint, heard from students and professors alike, is that too often class is cut short just when the discussion is beginning to heat up. Too often, students have to focus more on prioritizing assignments and making their schedules work than on working. Too often a rigid schedule, rather than a real passion, dictates the learning process —
but not at CC. At CC, the Block Plan allows students to bypass homework conflicts and overextended class agendas and dive headfirst into true intellectual adventure.

How does the Block Plan work? On the Block Plan, there are still four classes a semester; eight classes a year. You just take them back to back rather than all at once. You cover the same amount of course material, read just as much, and learn just as much. The difference is not in the quantity of material, it’s in the quality of understanding. So while the Block Plan operates at an accelerated pace, you won’t have any other classes demanding time and attention.

Because of the Block Plan, our courses have a distinct rhythm. While class schedules vary, most classes run from nine until noon each day, with labs scheduled in the afternoons. The entire morning, every morning, is dedicated to intensive learning, and students are free to ask that last question, take the debate one step further, and continue talking well after the class period is over — carrying the conversation across the quad and into the dining halls and dorm rooms.

The Block Plan is our mission statement in action and what makes us exceptional. The Block Plan is the ability to do more fieldwork, ask for deeper analysis, and explore the connection between place and perspective. The Block Plan is the opportunity to study Euripides in Athens and migratory raptor owls in their natural habitat; it is a trip to Denver to visit a water sanitation plant or talk to a symphony conductor. The Block Plan is challenge and opportunity combined, and it is the heart of CC.