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’s this commitment to an education that is both practical and experimental that consistently earns us a “Most Innovative” 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’s the beauty of offering a curated set of rare associate, bachelor’s, and master’s programs in areas like hospitality, culinary arts, forestry, recreation management, and ecological restoration: they’re best learned through interactive experiences and real responsibilities, and they’re so genuinely exciting that it’s nearly impossible to distinguish between hobbies and homework.

At Paul Smith’s, we’re not just earning degrees, we’re living our passions.