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Founded in 1855 by abolitionists, it was the first coeducational college in New England. The college was founded by Oren Cheney , a Dartmouth graduate and minister of the Freewill Baptist denomination who wanted to found a seminary in Lewiston. He obtained financial support from Benjamin E. Bates , a Boston, Massachusetts manufacturer for whom the college was eventually named. Bates has had a remarkably stable history, it has had only seven college presidents in its one hundred and fifty year history.
Bates is consistently ranked in the top fifteen for "Best Overall Academic Experience For Undergraduates" in annual rankings published by the Princeton Review. The college is also consistently ranked in the top twenty-five liberal arts colleges in annual rankings published by U.S. News & World Report.
Roughly 1,700 undergraduate students attend Bates. It operates on a 4-4-1 schedule: two semesters and a month-long "Short Term." The college requires a senior thesis in most majors. Bates reports that the percentage of students who study abroad is among the highest in the nation, with 68 percent of the Class of 2002 receiving credit for study overseas.