Founded in 1995, the Clemente Course in the Humanities is a national coalition of programs bringing free college humanities courses to adults who have faced barriers to education. In partnership with state humanities councils, colleges and universities, and service organizations, we remove the obstacles that shut adults out of higher education and offer a rich engagement with the texts and ideas that have shaped human thought throughout history. Our courses are taught by faculty from leading universities and offered for credit by Bard College and local institutions. More than 30 Clemente Courses, including our veterans initiative, operate from coast to coast in the U.S. The Clemente Course was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Obama in 2014.