St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe)

St. John's College
Former name
King William's School
(1696–1784)
Motto
Facio liberos ex liberis libris libraque
Motto in English
I make free adults from children by means of books and a balance
TypePrivate liberal arts college
Established1696 (1696) (as King William's School)
1784 (1784) (St. John's charter)
AccreditationMSCHE (Annapolis)
HLA (Santa Fe)
Religious affiliation
Secular
Endowment$271.8 million (2024)
PresidentSusan Paalman (Annapolis)
J. Walter Sterling (Santa Fe)
Academic staff
~164 total (both campuses)
Undergraduates775 (both campuses)
Postgraduates~160
Location,
United States

38°58′57″N 76°29′33″W / 38.98250°N 76.49250°W / 38.98250; -76.49250
35°40′3″N 105°54′44″W / 35.66750°N 105.91222°W / 35.66750; -105.91222
CampusAnnapolis: Urban
Santa Fe: Urban / Semi-rural
Colors  Orange
MascotPlatypus/Axolotl
Websitesjc.edu

St. John's College is a private liberal arts college with campuses in Annapolis, Maryland and Santa Fe, New Mexico. As the successor institution of King William's School, a preparatory school founded in 1696, St. John's is one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the United States; the current institution received a collegiate charter in 1784. In 1937, St. John's adopted a Great Books curriculum based on discussion of works from the Western canon of philosophical, religious, historical, mathematical, scientific, and literary works.

The college grants a single bachelor's degree in liberal arts. The awarded degree is equivalent to a double major in philosophy and the history of mathematics and science, and a double minor in classical studies and comparative literature. Three master's degrees are available through the college's graduate institute: one in liberal arts, which is a modified version of the undergraduate curriculum; one in Eastern Classics, exclusive to the Santa Fe campus, which applies a Great Books curriculum to classic works from India, China, and Japan; and one in Middle Eastern Classics, also exclusive to Santa Fe, which focuses on the Great Books from Jewish and Muslim authors written between the fall of Rome and European Renaissance.