Located in central Maine, the 714-acre Neo-Georgian campus sits atop Mayflower Hill and overlooks downtown Waterville and the Kennebec River Valley.

Students could no longer be denied admission based on religion, the institution was prohibited from applying a religious test when selecting board members, and the trustees now had the authority to grant degrees.

[4] In 1828 the trustees decided to turn the somewhat informal preparatory department of the college into a separate school named Waterville Academy (most recently called the Coburn Classical Institute).

[7] During the Civil War, many young men were called away from school to join the fight; from Waterville College, Richard C. Shannon, Henry C. Merriam, and Benjamin Butler.

[8] Trustees of the college voted to construct a library and chapel to honor the Colby men who died in the war, called the Memorial Hall; it was dedicated at the commencement of 1869.

That same year saw the public release of the Maine Higher Education Survey Report, which gave Colby's campus a less than desirable review.

[3] The campaign to raise funds for the move was immediately complicated by the Wall Street crash of 1929 and the Great Depression, and competing offers for the college's contemplated location emerged.

[16] Most notably, William H. Gannett offered a site in Augusta, a financially attractive option for the college, but a troublesome prospect for the town of Waterville.

[17] In 1937, according to master plans drawn up by Jens Fredrick Larson, construction broke ground on Lorimer Chapel, the first building on the new Mayflower Hill campus.

In 1956, the Maine State Highway Commission diverted the proposed path of Interstate 95 to swing clear of the new campus to the west,[18] and in 1961, Parade magazine called the 24-mile section of I-95 from Augusta to Waterville "America's finest example of a 'driver's road' for scenery, speed, and safety.

Major accomplishments included conducting the largest capital campaign in the history of Maine, which raised $376 million;[20] a new strategic plan for the college; accepting a major gift for the Colby College Museum of Art – the Lunder Collection of American Art – and the construction of a new wing for the museum to house it in 2013;[21] expansion onto the "Colby Green" with the construction of the Diamond Building in 2007 and the Davis Science Building in 2014.

In 2014, a documentary was created depicting a wide range of student experiences, including academic climate, social gatherings, athletics, and graduate outlooks, called Colby Life.

[26] Additionally, studies at four programs locations are recognized for inclusion in students calculated grade-point averages: the International Center for French Studies at the University of Burgundy in Dijon, France; the St. Petersburg Classical Gymnasium in Saint Petersburg, Russia; the University of Salamanca in Salamanca, Spain;[27] and the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.

[39] This represents a 12.3 percentage point decrease from the acceptance rate for the class of 2020, which was 18.7%, due in part to the college's decision to waive certain admissions requirements, such as the supplemental essay,[40] and by increasing financial aid commitments.

[60][61] In 2022 the Olin Science Library was repurposed into offices for President Greene's Artificial Intelligence and Entrepreneurship initiatives as well study spaces.

Admission is free to the museum, which serves both as a teaching resource for Colby College and as an active cultural institution for the residents of Maine and visitors to the state.

[65][66] The school has signed a number of official agreements to reduce its environmental impact, including the Maine Governor's Carbon Challenge and the American College and University President's Climate Commitment (ACUPCC).

[74] Colby's was one of the five original schools to partner with the Shelby Davis Scholarship program for graduates from the United World Colleges, dramatically increasing the international student population.

The Student Government Association (SGA) advises and interacts with the college administration on issues ranging from policies and procedures to class presidents and dorm heads; it is also responsible for allocating funding to other student-run organizations.

It contains the Wadsworth Gymnasium, with a capacity of 2,600 people, the Alfond Rink with 1,750 seats, the Colby swimming pool, The Dunaway Squash Courts, the Boulos Family Fitness Center, and a field house with a four-lane, 220-yard track, and athletic offices.

[81] In 1984, following an investigation of campus life commissioned by the Board of Trustees, a decision was made to withdraw recognition from Colby's Greek system as it was seen to be "exclusionary by nature.

Colby alumni include Governors Lot M. Morrill (ex-1869), Harris M. Plaisted (1881–1883), Nelson Dingley, Jr. (1874–1876), Llewellyn Powers (1901–1908), Benjamin Butler (1883–1884), Marcellus Stearns (1874–1877), and George A. Ramsdell (1897–1899).

Other notable alumni include: Harvard Professor, President Emeritus of the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine, and White House Consultant Gregory Ciottone (1987), former Barclays Chief Executive Officer Robert Diamond (1973), U.S.

Senator from Florida (1969–1974) Edward Gurney (1935), abolitionist Elijah P. Lovejoy (1826), Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs and U.S. State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack (1986), mathematician and founding member of the Institute for Advanced Study Marston Morse (1914), President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Eric S. Rosengren (1979), former White House Chief of Staff Pete Rouse (1968), author Doris Kearns Goodwin (1964), pathologist and author Stephen Sternberg (1941), and academic and author of the Spenser detective novels Robert B. Parker (1954), Pulitzer-Prize winning author Gregory White Smith (1973), political analyst Amy Walter (1991), Political Director of ABC News, former house editor for the Cook Political Report, Editor in Chief of The Hotline, and NFL General Manager Eric DeCosta of the Baltimore Ravens (1993).

Surrounding the center are the words "Sigillum Universitatis Colbianae," meaning "the seal of Colby College," and two crossed olive branch with five leaves each.

In 1899 the "university" was renamed Colby College, and a new seal was created with minor artistic changes to reflect the school's new name.

[citation needed] In 1936, President Franklin W. Johnson commissioned William Addison Dwiggins to design a seal to replace the one then existing, specifying only that it used the same motto as the first and retain the sun as the central theme.

In 2002, the college contracted with design firm Corey McPherson Nash for updates to its entire visual identity system, including the seal.