our annual spring session will be held:
May 17-25, 2025


All applications have closed.

Like so much of our community in WNC, School of the Alternative was rocked by Hurricane Helene. Extensive damage closed our beloved Blue Ridge Assembly (for now) as they work through extensive repairs, and months were lost from our planning season. But we are holding a session. SotA this May will be different, but we know that it is vital that we nourish the spaces that feed us joy and hope in a time when we are starving for it. We know that in this time when floods rise and fires burn we need spaces of respite. Of care. Of collaboration. Where we can do the critical work of processing what has been. Where we can imagine better worlds. 

This land is forever changed, but it and we are resilient, and this tragedy has illustrated above all else that there is nothing more powerful than community. We are excited to officially invite you back here in May. To this resilient, beautiful, ancient, scarred and sacred land. Thank you for your patience with our delayed timeline -  we are forever adapting to offer this experience to you.

1. Location. The 2025 session will be held at Warren Wilson College, just a few miles down the road from the Y. There will be some logistical differences: shared bathrooms in the hallway instead of in the dorm rooms, and kitchen and common spaces are in adjacent buildings rather than the same giant lodge – but the campus is more accessible, there is a phenomenal art building, and there are still gorgeous mountain views.
   

2. Application schedule. The time it took to secure ourselves and a new location means that our windows for application are shorter than usual: one month for faculty and two months for students & scholarships. But they are now open! We have kept the process the same otherwise, so it should be familiar for past applicants.
   

3. Base tuition. We have never raised tuition, and have often stated that our goal was for SotA to become cheaper and thus more accessible. But our food and lodging expenses have been going up steadily. Last year we shared the actual student cost, but still let folks attend at the original rate. This year we are not able to have that flexibility, and student tuition is $575 for a (longer!) 9-day session. Our sliding scale starts from that break-even rate, up to a suggested “justice rate” for folks who are able to pay more to keep SotA sustainable. 
   
   

   students will choose one of the following:

   
   $ 575: Community Rate

   This is our actual cost. If this is the max you can afford, please select this option!
   

   $$ 775: Justice Rate

   This not only covers the break-even cost of your being at SotA ($575), but contributes to meeting our operational deficits incurred from keeping our tuition as accessible as possible. This rate for folks who are able to pay more helps keep SotA sustainable.