I recently learned about it and it seems incredibly interesting. Are there any other two-year schools that have a similar program where you live in isolation in a small community doing labor and all the classic “coming of age” type things?
Not to my knowledge. The seven “Work Colleges” are somewhat similar in this regard, but they are four-year schools. The best-known are Berea College and College of the Ozarks.
http://www.workcolleges.org
Deep Springs is basically unique among junior colleges, not only because of its isolation and philosophy, but also because of its tiny size, free tuition/room & board, and Ivy-level selectivity and prestige.
Warren Wilson may be similar to what you are looking for. They have the Triad program which is similar to what you have described. Hampshire and Sarah Lawrence are very individual driven and you have more freedom to lead your own education. You may also want to consider if you want to take a gap year and apply to other types of programs in the meantime for more of the non traditional, community experiences which of there are many
Warren Wilson College (NC) is one of the seven schools usually recognized as “Work Colleges”. The others are Alice Lloyd College (KY), Berea College (KY), Blackburn College (IL), College of the Ozarks (MO), Ecclesia College (AR), and Stirling College (VT). An eighth school, Paul Quinn College (TX), has a similar philosophy but is an urban HBCU.
College of the Atlantic… maybe.
Although a four-year school, Quest University in Canada (BC) has unique, similarly demanding and query-based learning as Deep Springs. It also has a remarkably logical campus design, including access to true natural beauty, about an hour north of Vancouver, but south of Whistler.
https://questu.ca/
College of the Atlantic is kind of similar but not really. It’s an experimental college in a small, close-knit community - still bigger than Deep Springs by an order of magnitude (350 students and 70 faculty members as opposed to 26 students and about 25 other faculty and staff members).
College of the Atlantic is also not nearly as isolated as DSC. It is pretty rural - it’s on the coast of Maine in a small town, but it’s an hour from a small city (Bangor). Deep Springs, however, is essentially alone in Deep Springs Valley; the nearest town of any size is Bishop, CA, which is less than 4,000 people - and that’s an hour away. They’re so isolated that they support themselves in food and energy, for example. It’s a totally different kind of isolated.
So if you want a rural experience at an experimental college in a pretty small setting, College of the Atlantic is a great alternative to Deep Springs. But if it’s the very isolated, very tiny nature of DSC that appeals to you there’s really no other place like it. (The other thing is that while they are currently fighting a legal battle, they are not yet co-educational. CotA obviously is.)
Yep, good suggestion. City Year and other Americorps programs are examples of what you could do for 1-2 years before attending a traditional college (although of course City Year is not isolated, but maybe Americorps has similar programs in rural communities).
Otherwise, Warren Wilson and Berea are probably your best two options, followed by College of the Ozarks and Alice Lloyd (but both are religious).