Middlebury College is a small, highly selective liberal arts college located in the rural New England town of Middlebury, Vermont. Founded as the Addison County Grammar School in 1797 before receiving its charter on November 1, 1800, the College has a long history of distinguished scholarship, and is particularly well known for the strength of its foreign language, writing, environmental, and international studies programs. Today, Middlebury consistently ranks among the top liberal arts colleges in the nation and often is referred to as one of the Little Ivies. The 350-acre (1.4 km²) main campus is located in the Champlain Valley between Vermont's Green Mountains to the east and New York's Adirondack Mountains to the west; the nearby 1,800-acre (7.3 km²) mountain campus hosts the college's Bread Loaf School of English and the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference every summer. The Conference was founded on an idea first born of poet Robert Frost.

Approximately 2,400 students attend Middlebury during the regular academic year, representing all 50 United States, the District of Columbia, and over 70 foreign countries. Founded in 1915, the Middlebury Language Schools take over the campus during the summer, teaching about 1,200 students Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. The C.V. Starr - Middlebury Schools Abroad host students at 21 sites in Argentina, China, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Spain and Uruguay.

Alexander Twilight, class of 1823, was the first black graduate of any college or university in the United States; he also became the first African American elected to public office, being elected to the Vermont House of Representatives in 1856. In 1883, the trustees voted to accept women as students in the College, making Middlebury one of the first formerly all-male liberal arts colleges in New England to become a coeducational institution.

In May 2004, an anonymous benefactor made a $50 million donation to Middlebury. It was the largest cash gift the school has ever received. The donor asked only that Middlebury name its recently built science building, Bicentennial Hall, after outgoing President John McCardell Jr. In October 2006, Middlebury's endowment stood at approximately $840 million. In 2005, Middlebury signed an affiliation agreement with the Monterey Institute of International Studies, a graduate school located in Monterey, California. While the Monterey Institute will remain a separate institution, the affiliation will enable both schools to further their programs in international studies and foreign languages.

In the August 2006 edition of U.S. News and World Report's America's Best Colleges, Middlebury was ranked as the nation's fifth best liberal arts college.

Middlebury's campus is characterized by quads and open spaces, views of the Green Mountains and the Adirondacks, and historic granite, marble and limestone buildings. Old Stone Row, consisting of the three oldest buildings on campus- Old Chapel, Painter Hall, and Starr Hall- is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Painter Hall, constructed in 1815, is the oldest extant college building in Vermont. Of the campus, famous postmodern architect Robert Venturi said, "If anyone had told me that gray stone boxes set in lawns could be so beautiful, I would have said they were crazy. Middlebury looks like what everyone thinks an American campus should be but seldom is." * The campus is situated on a hill to the west of the village of Middlebury, a traditional New England village centered around Otter Creek Falls.

Since the mid-1990s, student housing has been grouped into five residential Commons: Atwater, Brainerd, Cook, Ross, and Wonnacott. All are named for illustrious college figures. The creation of the Commons accompanied an increase in the size of the student body and an ambitious building campaign. Recently completed building projects include the 220,000 sq. ft. McCardell Bicentennial Hall (1999), a 135,000 sq. ft. library (2004), two Atwater Commons Residence Halls (2004), and a new Atwater Dining Hall (2005). Hillcrest Hall, an Italianate-styled farmhouse constructed around 1874, is currently being renovated to provide a home for the environmental studies program according to LEED standards. Starr Library, a Beaux-Arts edifice completed in 1900, is set to become The Donald Everett Axinn '51 Center for
Literary and Cultural Studies at Starr Library pending restoration of interior spaces and addition of two wings for faculty offices. It will house various academic departments and will add lecture halls, screening rooms, and a television production studio for the film studies department.*