Mars College is a pop-up college built each winter on an off-grid location we call Mars, near the Salton Sea in the California desert. Every year since 2020, we come together to construct a temporary campus, spend three months living and working there, and then take it apart. The land is left as empty as we found it.
Today we are releasing the application for Mars 2027. This will be our eighth season. The main semester begins January 11, and ends March 29. We’d love for you to apply.
The year has three phases.
In the fall, a small crew builds the campus: pallet-rack structures, solar grid, water tanks, high-speed internet. Every year, a different layout; some years a monolith while others a collection of smaller buildings; kitchen, library, cafe, gallery, cinema, dorms. Vans, RVs, and other living containers fill in around it. We work to make it habitable.
In January, the rest of the Martians arrive and the semester begins. The first weeks revolve around orientation, introductions, and acclimation. After that, an open calendar fills with activities organized by Martians themselves. If you want to teach something, you put it on the calendar. If you want to attend, you show up. Last season's calendar included classes on vibecoding, ceramics, creative writing, yoga, contact improv, dance, strength training, breadmaking, camp skills, improv comedy, zine making, chess, and more.
The semester is anchored to a series of traditions and a final showcase we organize for ourselves and call Mars Electronica. Traditions include our annual AI film festival, and weekly “Thunder Talks,” where anyone can give a short talk on anything they want.
In April, we tear it down, pack it up, and disband for the year, to wait until we do it all over again.
For a summary of the last Mars College, read here, or see last year’s zine.
Recap of Mars 2026
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May 18
The seventh edition of Mars College wrapped up a month ago and the land we call Mars is now barren again. For now.
Mars College runs as a collection of semi-autonomous camps, each with its own focus, culture, living arrangement, and admissions process. In 2027 the following camps are already taking applications.
Mars Institute of Technology -- focused on off-grid AI, art, and technology.
Department of Makers -- formerly known as Tool Camp, focused on hands-on craft, fabrication, and skill-sharing; the makerspace of Mars.
Community Lab Camp -- a communal living co-op focused on coherent community in the desert.
Martian Music Academy -- a new camp dedicated to building a ziggurat-shaped performance stage and jamming in the desert.
Department of Public Works -- the build team; those who come to raise Mars from the ground and bring it back down.
The purpose of camps is mainly to delegate living logistics to smaller units. Each camp handles its own application and interview process. Camps may have very different living philosophies; they may vary in terms of whether they provide housing or not, and how much they coordinate on things like food. Some camps are highly communal and tight-knit, while others are loose aliances of self-reliant people who want to caravan together.
Camps are not mutually exclusive; in practice, most calendared activities are accessible to Martians of other camps. We are still small enough that everyone knows everyone else.
If you’re not sure which camp to join, you can apply to multiple camps.
All Martians pay $300 to the treasury once at the start of the semester to cover basic communal expenses, including water, power, trash/waste, and high-speed internet.
In addition, camps have their own monthly dues to their members, which are typically around $300/month. Exact numbers will finalize closer to the the start of the term. Some camps may provide opportunities for scholarships or work-study.
Members of the Department of Public Works (DPW), the camp which builds and unbuilds Mars, are exempt from all fees.
Mars is a working experiment in what living can look like when you get off the hamster wheel of urban professional life. We think there's a version of the future that runs on high-speed internet and remote work, natural surroundings, low overhead, and people who actually know each other -- and that this version is possible now, not later. Mars is an attempt to live it for three months at a time, figure out what it takes to make it work, and teach people how to cultivate it for themselves.
To date, over 200 people have come through Mars. Most for just one season, with a significant group of alumni returning multiple years, evolving into camp leaders, and helping us grow. Some have called it a life-changing experience. Many have grown deep friendships beyond the desert; Martians organize meetups in cities around the world throughout the year, and stay in touch over the internet.
Mars’ temporariness is part of the point. Every year, we try it again from scratch, learning from past mistakes, improving on last year’s ideas, and welcoming new Martians to be part of a new beginning. The yearly reset means that even alumni can feel like new people.
Over the years, Mars has quietly grown into something larger than any one season. We're building the next one now. If you’re interested, apply here.
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