Hands-on Learning

It鈥檚 About the Experience. Hands-down, we do hands-on unlike anywhere else.

Every day, Smitties are knee-deep in freshwater ponds, coated in flour or covered with sawdust. Baking students are in their chef whites on day one, operating a full-scale bakery.

Natural science students are out on the lake, collecting wild microbes for research. Forestry students transform fresh timber into finished boards at the only student-run mill in the country. Natural Science majors collect sediment core from as close as Lower St. Regis Lake and as far as Kenya and Peru Some students are getting paid to manage our draft horses, while others are interning anywhere from Saranac Lake to Disney World. It鈥檚 this commitment to an education that is both practical and experimental that consistently earns us a 鈥淢ost Innovative鈥� billing by U.S. News & World Report and gets us featured on the likes of Nat Geo TV and ESPN. The greatest part?

Our students love it. That鈥檚 the beauty of offering a curated set of rare associate, bachelor鈥檚, and master鈥檚 programs in areas like hospitality, culinary arts, forestry, recreation management, and ecological restoration: they鈥檙e best learned through interactive experiences and real responsibilities, and they鈥檙e so genuinely exciting that it鈥檚 nearly impossible to distinguish between hobbies and homework.

At Paul Smith鈥檚, we鈥檙e not just earning degrees, we鈥檙e living our passions.

By the Numbers

100% Of seniors participate in at least one high-impact practice (an immersive learning experience such as internships, research, and study abroad)
97% Of seniors participate in two or more high-impact practices
100% Faculty-taught courses