ECLA of Bard was founded in 1999 as the ECLA European College of Liberal Arts, with the aim of creating a first-rate liberal arts institution in Europe. Over the years it established itself as an institution with an uncompromising profile, attracting excellent students from all over the world. A major step toward the achievement of acknowledgement in the academic world came with the Berlin Senate’s recognition of ECLA as a university in 2011. ECLA’s merger with Bard College, in the same year, is another milestone, uniting ECLA with a leading American liberal arts college. Bard’s well-known strengths in civic engagement and extensive international dual-degree partnership programmes offer opportunities for exploration and connection to students and faculty throughout the Bard network (Russia, South Africa, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, East Jerusalem, and the United States).
Study options at ECLA of Bard include:
* Four-year B.A. in Value Studies
* Academy Year, a one-year programme, in which students take core and elective courses
* Project Year, in which students complete an individual yearlong project
| No. of students: | 60* |
| No. of international students: | 60* |
| No. of Academic staff: | 14 |
| No. of Administrative staff: | 14 |
| Student to staff ratio: | 10:1 |
| Funding type: | Private (non-profit) |
ECLA received state recognition as a private university from the Senatsverwaltung für Bildung, Wissenschaft und Forschung (Senate Administration for Education, Science and Research) in Berlin, and with it the right to award the bachelor's degree.