• National Recognition

    The Clemente Course in the Humanities was awarded a National Humanities Medal by President Obama and has received  grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and other prestigious bodies.

  • Access

    Rooted in our commitment to access, tuition is always free for Clemente courses and the costs of books, childcare, and transportation are also covered.

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  • Further Education

    Courses are accredited by higher education institutions, including our  partner Bard College.  For many Clemente alumni, these college credits mark the first step toward receiving a college degree.

  • Civic Engagement

    Clemente helps students develop critical, reflective and creative skills that empower them to improve their own lives and those of their families and communities.

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About Clemente


Many of our students experience financial hardship.  In addition to economic distress, our students commonly report other major barriers to higher education, including housing insecurity, incarceration, trauma, health-related challenges, and immigration status issues. 

Clemente offers an open door. We require only that students are at least 17 years old, able to read a newspaper, and plan to complete a year-long course.  As college tuition soars, Clemente Courses remain free.  Our courses also provide crucial wrap-around support by covering the costs of childcare, transportation, and books while students attend class.

Everyone who completes a Clemente course receives a certificate of achievement. Students who demonstrate college-level work may earn credit from Bard College or another academic partner.

Since 1996, more than 13,000 students have participated in a Clemente Course.

The Power of the Humanities


The Clemente Course in the Humanities provides a transformative educational experience for adults facing economic hardship and adverse circumstances. Our free college humanities courses empower students to further their education and careers, become effective advocates for themselves and their families, and engage actively in the cultural and civic lives of their communities.

Recent News


By Aaron Rosen 16 Feb, 2024
Calvin University launches new free humanities course inspired by Clemente
By Vive Griffith 17 Jan, 2022
New $150,000 grant supports alumni seminars
15 Aug, 2020
Mateo Gonzalez was always drawn to literature, but before enrolling in El Proyecto Odisea—the Spanish-language program of the Odyssey Project—he’d never had to chance to study it formally. His education in his birth country of Mexico and later in his adopted home of Chicago was always technical, designed to support his career as a machinist in a manufacturing setting. That changed when he heard an advertisement for Odisea on the radio. “At the time, I wasn’t doing anything extracurricular other than my job,” he said. His three children were grown and mostly on their own, leaving a peaceful and quiet house. “I was working eight hours and coming home early, so I was free to do other things. It sounded like an interesting way to spend my time.” It turned out to be much more. The class kindled his love of literature, but also his love of writing. He knew he had an imagination, but it was in an early class that he discovered how people responded to that imagination on the page. A professor asked students to write descriptively and turn their work in to her. The following week, when Mateo entered the room a few minutes after class had begun, everyone started clapping. “I thought it was some sort of punishment for arriving late,” he joked. Instead, the professor had shared his work with the class. “They said, ‘What you wrote was amazing.’ I was surprised. After that I started cultivating my writing more.”
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