The Vassar-Wesleyan-Colgate Program in Spain is a two-semester program for some forty students offering a curriculum which includes Spanish literature, history, art history, politics, composition, and stylistics. The breadth of this curriculum allows students of different majors to continue their individual courses of study while learning about Madrid, Spain, and Europe.

The program is open to any qualified junior or senior in college. Students admitted to the program attend an intensive course in Spanish language and culture at the University of Santiago de Compostela in the month of August. During the fall and spring terms, classes are held at the "Instituto Internacional" in Madrid, where the program maintains its office. The "Instituto", recently designated an historical landmark, is centrally located in a pleasant residential district of Madrid. It houses several American university programs and the most accessible library in the capital.

The enrollment period extends from August through December, or from August through May. Students are normally expected to attend the orientation course in Santiago and to enroll for either the fall semester or the academic year in Madrid. Permission to omit the Santiago course may be granted in exceptional circumstances, and well-qualified students may apply for participation in the spring semester only.

Courses are taught by highly qualified faculty members, active in Spanish academic, political, and intellectual affairs. Each year a member of the Spanish faculty of one of the three sponsoring institutions (Vassar College, Wesleyan University, and Colgate University) serves as Resident Director of the program. The Resident Director insures maintenance of small classes, supervises curricular and housing matters, organizes the orientation and excursions, serves as an advisor for independent studies, and provides a link with the home campuses. The program affords students the chance to observe Spanish culture intimately by placing them in private homes. In this way the students' personal lives and academic endeavors complement each other. The program is designed to enable the students to increase their understanding of Spanish language, customs and culture by living first in a provincial university city (Santiago) and later in Spain's historic capital city.