Deep Springs College Brings Rigorous Academics to a Ranch in the High Desert: 60 Minutes Episode

60 Minutes Jon Wertheim reports on Deep Springs College.

Founded in 1917, Deep Springs College is a unique institution of higher learning. The educational program is built upon three pillars: academics, student self-government, and manual labor. The school is located forty miles from Bishop, California on an isolated cattle ranch in Deep Springs Valley.

Between twelve and fifteen students are admitted each year. Each receives a full scholarship; the college covers the costs of tuition, room, and board for every student offered admission. In exchange, Deep Springs students are expected to dedicate themselves to lives of service to humanity. Alumni have gone on to exemplify this ideal in a variety of fields, including politics, science, journalism, academics, agriculture, medicine, law, business, and design.

The three pillars, which comprise students’ formal responsibilities in their two years at the college, prompt each student to take real responsibility for and ownership of the community. Students are expected to bring a high level of preparation and engagement to their classes, which are generally constructed around seminar-style discussion and often have fewer than eight participants. The Student Body is responsible for many aspects of running the College, admitting students, hiring faculty, and reviewing student and faculty performance. Each student also labors roughly twenty hours each week. Labor positions include working on the farm and ranch, as well as daily tasks of cooking, cleaning, and maintaining facilities and vehicles.