Bates College was established in 1855 and holds the distinction of being the first co-educational college in the New England region. Bates College is consistently ranked among the top 25 liberal arts colleges in the USA. Bates College offers a top-quality liberal arts education allowing students to develop their talents and achieve a degree that will help them pursue their professional and personal goals. The Bates curriculum is structured around more than thirty majors and related minors, areas of specialization through which a student gains expertise in a particular academic discipline. Subjects as varied as Anthropology and Physics and Geology and Dance are taught at Bates.