Carleton College is a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minn., a town of 19,657 people to the south of Minneapolis.http://www.city-data.com/city/Northfield-Minnesota.html The school was founded in 1866 and has 1,966 students.

Carleton is an exclusively undergraduate institution that offers majors in the arts and sciences.http://www.stateuniversity.com/universities/MN/Carleton_College.html It is currently ranked 8th in the US News and World Report list of best colleges for 2011.http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/liberal-arts-rankings Carleton formally inaugurated its new president, Steven Poskanzer, on September 25, 2010.http://apps.carleton.edu/campus/president/

Carleton was originally founded by the Minnesota Conference of Congregational Churches and named Northfield College for the town where it is located. The name was changed in 1871 in honor of William Carleton, one of the school's chief benefactors.http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Carleton_College/id/1946693 The school opened its doors in 1870 under President James Strong with an inaugural class of four students. Two of those students were married after their graduation.https://apps.carleton.edu/archives/exhibits/timeline/1866/

Carleton's buildings were built one at at time, and many are extremely old; the school's Goodsell Observatory was built in 1887 and is on the National Registry of Historic Places.http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Carleton_College/id/1946693 A number of prominent alumni attended the school in the 19th century, including sociologist Thorstein Veblen and future senator Ernest Lundeen.https://apps.carleton.edu/archives/exhibits/timeline/1891/ The school's vast arboretum was purchased in the 1920s by President Donald Cowling; it was first known as "Cowling's Folly", and later his legacy.http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Carleton_College/id/1946693

Enrollment permanently exceeded 1,000 students in 1958 and continued to rise steadily to the present day. The school has also continued to expand its facilities, restoring and improving old buildings and adding new ones. Most recently, Carleton added a new language and dining center and nine townhouse student residences in 2001.https://apps.carleton.edu/archives/exhibits/timeline/1967/

The application process for Carleton can be highly competitive; in 2001, 4,016 people applied for spots in a freshman class of under 500.http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Carleton_College/id/1946693 The top quarter of applicants scored above 700 on the math and verbal sections of the SAT.http://www.citytowninfo.com/school-profiles/carleton-college Carleton is a full-time school, and students can pick between 34 different majors and 16 different concentrations. The school operates on a trimester system.http://www.citytowninfo.com/school-profiles/carleton-college All students are required to take "distribution classes" in a variety of different departments; these courses comprise about a third of their overall course load. The idea is to ensure students will have a well-rounded education with academic exposure to a variety of different subjects and fields.http://www.stateuniversity.com/universities/MN/Carleton_College.html The top five majors are biology, political science/international relations, economics, English, and psychology.http://www.stateuniversity.com/universities/MN/Carleton_College.html

• Donella Meadows
• David Welna
• Chris Kratt
• Barrie Osborne
• Garrick Utley
• Jack Barnes
• Anthony Downs
• Melvin Laird
• Thorstein Veblen