St. John's College

St. John's College, established in 1696 as King William's School and chartered as a college in 1784, sits on a 36-acre campus in historic downtown Annapolis, Maryland, within walking distance of the Chesapeake Bay and the state capitol. The institution operates on a distinctive Great Books curriculum where all students follow the same academic program focused on classical texts in philosophy, literature, mathematics, and science, with no traditional majors or departments. The campus features Federal-style architecture, including McDowell Hall, the oldest academic building in continuous use in Maryland. Students, known as Johnnies, reside primarily in dormitories on the hilltop campus, and while the college maintains a small athletics program including crew and sailing, its academic focus centers on seminar discussions and the analysis of fundamental texts from Western civilization.