Commitment to the intellectual and personal development of students is Hamilton College's most important and enduring tradition. The faculty is dedicated to the promotion of academic achievement, integrity and personal growth. Hamilton students spend much of their time with their teachers and fellow students identifying problems, clarifying questions, thinking creatively, experimenting with solutions and frequently undertaking collaborative work. The College seeks mature and motivated students who desire to join this academic community and who are willing to take the responsibility for shaping their academic careers through sustained consultation with their advisors.

A Hamilton education is characterized by academic rigor and intellectual engagement. Faculty members provide opportunities for students of unusual talents to realize their fullest capacities, for their own benefit and that of the world in which they will live. To that end, professors design programs, courses and assignments that foster self-education and produce the intellectual toughness, creativity and flexibility necessary to excel in a rapidly changing world. Graduates should be poised to investigate new avenues of knowledge, to respond creatively to new and unexpected situations and to address problems and challenges in a morally and intellectually courageous manner.

The College expects its students to develop the ability to read, observe and listen with critical perception, and to think, write and speak with clarity, understanding and precision. Students should develop their appreciation for inquiry, combined with the confidence to evaluate arguments and to defend their own positions. They should learn to question creatively, derive information from and analyze data, and formulate hypotheses. They should recognize the limits of factual information and become attuned to how such information can be used and misused. Above all, students should develop respect for intellectual and cultural diversity because such respect promotes free and open inquiry, independent thought and mutual understanding.

At Hamilton, students are accorded freedom to pursue their own educational interests within the broad goals of a liberal arts education. In consultation with their advisors, Hamilton students regularly plan, assess and re-assess their educational progress and their success in fulfilling the ideals of the liberal arts.