Green Mountain College is a coeducational private environmental liberal arts college located in Poultney, Vermont, in the USA. Green Mountain is located in the Vermont countryside, at the foot of the Taconic Mountains between the Green Mountains and Adirondacks. The College has a core set of courses known as the Environmental Liberal Arts (ELA) curriculum, designed to create students well-rounded in environmental and natural sciences, writing, reading, history and philosophy. Green Mountain was founded in 1834 as Troy Conference Academy, a coeducational institution. In 1863 the school’s name changed to Ripley Female College; in 1874 back to Troy Conference Academy; in 1937 to Green Mountain Junior College. Green Mountain became a two-year junior college for women in 1943. In 1974, the school changed its name to Green Mountain College and returned to coeducational status, offering four-year baccalaureate degrees. Beginning in the 1990s the college began to focus on environmental literacy and citizenship. On April 22, 2010, GMC formally opened a new combined heat and power (CHP) biomass plant costing $5.8m.