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NESCAC. LEWISTON, MAINE.

Bates College

Bates is a college of about 2,000 students in Lewiston, Maine, founded in 1855 as New England's first coeducational college and test-optional since 1984. The campus is compact and the western Maine mountains are close: Sunday River is the alpine team's home, Lost Valley is a short drive for weeknight sessions, and Bates hosted the 2009 NCAA Championships. The college is NESCAC Division III, but skiing races the single-division NCAA and EISA circuit.

Lewiston, ME

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BatesBobcats · Ski team

Photo: Xin Deui, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

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NCAA divisionEISA · NCAA skiing
D3
Students (all undergraduate)2026
2,000
AdmittedClass of 2030
16%
Single fee (tuition, food, housing)2026-27
$94,560
Home hillNewry, ME
Sunday River
Student-faculty ratio2026
9:1
Roster athletes2025-26
20
NCAA power rankscore 50.01
#17

Why Bates?

Why racerslook at Bates

Maine snow within reach, a May Short Term that clears the spring, and a college that has been test-optional longer than any peer.

  • Snow-covered ski trails at Sunday River in Newry, Maine, the Bates alpine team's home venue

    Sunday River, plus weeknights at Lost Valley

    Sunday River in Newry is the EISA-listed alpine venue, and in 2025-26 the team also trained at Lost Valley, Sugarloaf and a Colorado camp over Thanksgiving break.(gobatesbobcats.com)

  • Skyline of Lewiston, Maine, with church spires and former mill buildings along the Androscoggin River

    Short Term in May

    The 4-4-1 calendar ends with a single-course Short Term of about four weeks in late April and May, often off campus, so the race season sits inside a normal spring semester.(bates.edu)

  • Snow on the Bates College campus with brick academic buildings and bare trees

    Test-optional since 1984

    Bates has not required the SAT or ACT since 1984; submitters in the Class of 2030 had middle-50% scores of 690-750 EBRW, 710-760 math and 31-34 ACT.(bates.edu)

  • Panorama of Lake Andrews, the small pond students call the Puddle, on the Bates campus

    Aid that meets full need

    Bates meets 100% of calculated need through grants, loans capped at $3,000 a year and campus work; the average need-based grant is $67,511 and there is no merit or athletic aid.(bates.edu)

About the school

The honest version.

What the school is, what it is known for, and what a family should weigh before committing.

Bates is a private liberal arts college of about 2,000 students in Lewiston, Maine, a former mill city that together with Auburn forms a metro area of roughly 60,000, north of Portland. Founded in 1855 as New England's first coeducational college, it runs on a 9:1 student-faculty ratio, a heavy emphasis on community-engaged courses, and a test-optional policy it has held since 1984, longer than any of its peers. The campus is compact and residential, and the western Maine mountains are close. For a racer, Bates is a NESCAC Division III college whose ski team races on the NCAA and EISA carnival circuit, with Sunday River in Newry as the alpine home and Black Mountain in Rumford for nordic; the college hosted the 2009 NCAA Championships at those two venues. Sunday River is roughly an hour from campus, and the team also trains at Lost Valley, 15 minutes away. In 2025-26 the team added a Sugarloaf giant slalom camp and a Colorado training camp over Thanksgiving break. Aid meets full need but packages include loans and work.

Know before you commit

  • Expensive, and aid packages include loans and work: the 2026-27 single fee is $94,560, and Bates meets need through a mix of grants, student loans and student employment rather than grants alone.(bates.edu)
  • No merit or athletic aid of any kind; the entire aid budget is need-based, consistent with NESCAC Division III rules.(bates.edu)
  • Cost pressure has been reported: in 2023 Bates cut programmatic, non-personnel budgets by 5% citing inflation, although the college described its finances as fundamentally strong.(chronicle.com)
  • Depth is thin on the results sheet: at the 2026 Williams Carnival the combined alpine and nordic team placed 11th of 14 EISA schools.(gobatesbobcats.com)

Feel the campus

From first tracks to final exams.

Credited archive photographs of the campus, the town and the hill; not current team photography.

5 of 5 photos shown

Ski team experience

Bobcat alpineon the EISA circuit

Bates alpine races six EISA carnivals from mid-January through February, then the NCAA Championships in early March, with a maximum of seven skiers per team at each carnival in slalom and giant slalom. Head coach Kurt Simard and assistant Jake Johnston ran a 2025-26 roster of 11 women and 9 men out of Sunday River, Lost Valley and Sugarloaf, with a Colorado camp over Thanksgiving. Bates hosted the 2009 NCAA Championships at Sunday River and Black Mountain.

View official roster
Team athletes
20
Men / women
9 / 11
International athletes
1
Hosted NCAA Championships
2009
Conference
EISA
Alpine disciplines
SL + GS

Where Benjamin fits today

Not a selection or admission prediction.

  • SLNo comparison
    — · —

    Scoring line 55.39.

  • GSNo comparison
    — · —

    Scoring line 55.80.

  • SGNo comparison
    — · —

    Scoring line 122.39.

  • DHNo comparison
    — · —

    Scoring line 260.42.

Clear · Back to Benjamin's profile

Academics

What you can study.

Bates runs a 4-4-1 calendar: two semesters followed by a single-course Short Term of about four weeks in May. Every student completes a capstone or thesis, and the college lists about 40 majors and 30 minors; the carnival season falls entirely inside the spring semester, so the main planning question is course load and travel in January and February.

  • 2,000
    Students (all undergraduate)
  • 9:1
    Student-faculty ratio
  • 553
    Entering class

8 featured fields · full catalog

  • EconomicsSocial science
    One of about 40 majors listed by Bates.
  • NeuroscienceScience
    A standalone major alongside Biology and Biochemistry.
  • Environmental StudiesEnvironment
    Listed with Earth and Climate Sciences among Bates majors.
  • BiologyScience
    A core science major at a college where every student completes a thesis or capstone.
  • PoliticsSocial science
    Bates' political science major.
  • PsychologySocial science
    Listed among Bates majors.
  • Digital and Computational StudiesQuantitative
    Bates' computing major, offered alongside Mathematics and Physics.
  • EngineeringEngineering
    Listed as a major on the Bates majors page.
Explore majors

Source: bates.edu

Admissions

Your path here.

Testing
test-optional(bates.edu)
Application deadline
February 15 (regular decision); December 1 (ED I); February 1 (ED II)(bates.edu)
  1. Apply through the Common App, Coalition on Scoir or QuestBridge
  2. Have your school send the official transcript, school report, counselor recommendation and teacher recommendation(s)
  3. Send first-quarter grades (ED I) or a mid-year transcript (ED II and regular decision) by your deadline
  4. Indicate on the application that you intend to apply for aid, and self-report test scores only if you choose to submit them
Admissions details

Test scores

What admitted students scored.

Test-optional · submitters, Class of 2030

  • SAT evidence-based reading and writing690 – 750
  • SAT math710 – 760
  • ACT composite31 – 34

Middle 50%: a quarter scored below the low figure and a quarter above the high one. Source: bates.edu

Acceptance rate

How selective it is.

16%Class of 2030
  • Admitted
  • Not admitted

Bates admitted 16% of applicants to the Class of 2030 and has been test-optional since 1984. Admission is need-aware, and as a NESCAC Division III college no coach can offer, promise or guarantee a spot.

Source: bates.edu

Cost & financial aid

What a year costs.

2026-27 published figures.

Published costs
Tuition$73,760
Food and housing$20,800
Single fee (tuition, food and housing)$94,560
First-year fee$475
Student health insurance (if not waived)$2,352
Estimated total with books, personal and travel (low)$97,710
Estimated total with books, personal and travel (high)$98,610

Books ($900), personal expenses ($1,000) and travel ($250 to $1,150) are estimates, not billed. Bates meets 100% of calculated need through grants, student loans of no more than $3,000 a year, and student employment; the average need-based grant is $67,511 and 43% of the Class of 2030 receives Bates grant aid. There is no merit or athletic aid, and students who do not apply for aid at admission are not considered for institutional aid later.(bates.edu)

Financial aid information

Location

Campus, hill, airport.

Bates College, Lewiston

Lewiston and its twin city Auburn form a metro area of about 60,000 in central Maine, north of Portland.

Open in Maps · source

Skyline of Lewiston, Maine, with church spires and former mill buildings along the Androscoggin River
The Lewiston skyline along the Androscoggin River, September 2025

Student life

Beyond the hill.

  • Bates Outing Club

    The BOC runs free student-led trips year round, from hiking and canoeing to cross-country skiing and surfing, and lends gear from its equipment room.(bates.edu)

  • Purposeful Work

    The Center for Purposeful Work offers internships, micro-internships and exploration mini-grants tied to the college's aim of matching who students are with what they do.(bates.edu)

  • Community-engaged courses

    Half of all students take a community-engaged course each year, and 100% of tenured faculty hold the highest degree in their field.(bates.edu)

Athlete voices

Real stories.

  • “I'm really looking forward to seeing how the team stacks up against other college teams.”
    Helena Jankovic, alpine captain · source
  • “The amount we've been skiing is going to provide a really good base for the year.”
    Kurt Simard, head alpine coach · source
  • “To be the first Bates College Paralympian is such an honor.”
    Tyler McKenzie '14, alpine alumnus and 2026 Paralympian · source

Alumni & outcomes

What came next.

Olympians (all Bates sports)(bates.edu)
12
Bates Paralympian: alpine alumnus Tyler McKenzie '14, Milano Cortina 2026(gobatesbobcats.com)
1st
Average federal loan debt, Class of 2026(bates.edu)
$14,782
Students who study abroad(bates.edu)
60%

Related programs

You might also look at.

Sources, rights and updates

Where this comes from.

Every figure carries its reporting period and a link. Rosters and points come from official rosters and FIS or USCSA results. Photographs are Wikimedia Commons archive images under open licences, credited on each image.

27 source pages across 6 sites

Your future in skiing starts here

Ready to learn more about Bates?

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