Smith College

Main image

Short History

Founded in 1871, Smith College opened in 1875 with 14 students. Today, it is one of the largest women’s liberal arts colleges in the United States, educating women of promise for lives of distinction and purpose. Located in Northampton, Massachusetts, Smith enrolls 2,600 students from nearly every state and more than 50 other countries, providing opportunities for students to develop their passions and talents to effect meaningful change throughout the world.

Smith has changed much since its founding, but throughout its history there have been certain enduring constants: a dedication to providing both the educational offerings and practical experiences that enable students to make a difference in the world, a belief in the ability of education to address the world’s most pressing problems, and a concern for the rights and privileges of women.

Today the college continues to benefit from a dynamic relationship between innovation and tradition. And while Smith’s basic curriculum of the humanities, arts and sciences still flourishes, the college continues to respond to new and evolving disciplines—offering majors or interdepartmental programs in engineering, the study of women and gender, neuroscience, film and media studies, Middle East studies, statistical and data sciences and other emerging fields. Our students leave Smith to work as policy-makers, researchers, artists, engineers, writers, business leaders and scientists who push the world forward.

Logo

Location

Northampton, Massachusetts

Points of pride

At Smith, students from diverse experiences and backgrounds form an extraordinary intellectual community. Nearly all students live on campus in one of 41 houses ranging in style from modern to Gothic and in size from 10 to 100 students, representing all class years. After graduation, more than 48,000 Smith alums are ready to help students step into internships and careers as graduates join our powerful professional network.

Thumbnail

Degree type

Website

Athletics

Settings

Affiliation

Class Options

Email

Areas of Study

Graduate Programs

1875

Visit

Apply

Net Price Calculator

Facebook Page URL

https://www.facebook.com/smithcollege

Twitter Username

smithcollege

Mount Holyoke College

Main image

Short History

Chemist and educator Mary Lyon founded Mount Holyoke College (then called Mount Holyoke Female Seminary) in 1837, nearly a century before women gained the right to vote. As the first of the Seven Sisters—the female equivalent of the once predominantly male Ivy League—Mount Holyoke has led the way in women's education.

Logo

Location

South Hadley, Massachusetts

Points of pride

Mount Holyoke College’s exploratory education and collaborative community empower students to extend their knowledge and expand possibilities for themselves, their communities and the world. As a women’s college that is gender-diverse, Mount Holyoke inspires students to break through barriers and make change for all. With a vibrant campus in South Hadley, Massachusetts, Mount Holyoke is home to 2200 students, who connect with over 180 years of tradition while shaping our shared future.

Thumbnail

Degree type

Website

Athletics

Settings

Affiliation

Class Options

Email

Areas of Study

Graduate Programs

1837

Visit

Apply

Net Price Calculator

Facebook Page URL

https://www.facebook.com/mountholyokecollege

Twitter Username

mtholyoke

Cottey College

Main image

Short History

Cottey College was founded in 1884 by Virginia Alice Cottey. She said,"When I was a small child I read a book about Mary Lyon, the founder of Mount Holyoke College for Women. It gave me a purpose in life and I devoted all my energy to learning and teaching so that if the time ever came when I could found my own school, I would be ready."

Logo

Location

Nevada, Missouri

Points of pride

Cottey College educates women to be contributing members of a global society through a challenging curriculum and a dynamic campus experience.  In our diverse and supportive environment, women develop their potential for personal and professional lives of intellectual engagement and thoughtful action as learners, leaders, and citizens.

Thumbnail

Degree type

Website

Athletics

Settings

Affiliation

Class Options

Email

Areas of Study

1884

Visit

Apply

Net Price Calculator

Facebook Page URL

https://www.facebook.com/CotteyC

Twitter Username

CotteyCollege

College of Saint Benedict

Main image

Short History

Founded in 1913, the College of Saint Benedict embraces the rich heritage of bold leadership and pioneering spirit of its Benedictine founders, the Sisters of Saint Benedict's Monastery. The college’s dedication to the power of the liberal arts is a cornerstone of the Benedictine wisdom tradition. In addition, the college expresses its Benedictine character through the practice of enduring Benedictine values, including community living, hospitality and respect for persons.

Logo

Location

St. Joseph, Minnesota

Points of pride

The College of Saint Benedict is a nationally ranked Catholic residential liberal arts college for women. It shares one academic program with its educational partner, Saint John’s University, a nationally ranked Catholic residential liberal arts college for men, with students attending classes together on both campuses. The College of Saint Benedict is nationally recognized for its programming in international education and the fine arts. In addition to its emphasis on women’s development as leaders, professionals and scholars, the college also in known for its promotion of character and values development.

Thumbnail

Degree type

Website

Athletics

Settings

Affiliation

Class Options

Email

Areas of Study

1913

Visit

Apply

Net Price Calculator

Facebook Page URL

https://www.facebook.com/twocolleges

Twitter Username

CSBSJU

Bryn Mawr College

Main image

Short History

When Bryn Mawr College opened its doors in 1885, it offered women a more ambitious academic program than any previously available to them in the United States. Other women's colleges existed, but Bryn Mawr was the first to offer graduate education through the Ph.D.—a signal of its founders' refusal to accept the limitations imposed on women's intellectual achievement at other institutions.

Logo

Location

Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania

Points of pride

Bryn Mawr College is a highly selective women's college right outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A close-knit community of about 1,420 undergraduate students, Bryn Mawr is renowned for its academic excellence and engagement with the world.

On Bryn Mawr’s historic campus, students find challenging courses and research opportunities; strong bonds with faculty, students, and alumnae/i; and innovative programs that connect study with action. Students, faculty, and staff work together to build a community that is inclusive and welcoming. Through a holistic curriculum, the country’s oldest Self-Government Association, and a student-owned honor code, Bryn Mawr encourages original thinking.

Critical, creative, and collaborative, Bryn Mawr students and alumnae/i are agents of change and forever members of a community founded on the respect for individuals.

Thumbnail

Degree type

Website

Athletics

Settings

Affiliation

Class Options

Email

Areas of Study

Graduate Programs

1885

Visit

Apply

Net Price Calculator

Facebook Page URL

https://www.facebook.com/BrynMawrCollege

Twitter Username

BrynMawrCollege

Wesleyan College

Main image

Short History

Chartered in 1836, Wesleyan became the first college in the world chartered to grant degrees to women. Since then, we’ve sent scores of women out into the world to do the impossible, the amazing, and the extraordinary, like the first woman to receive a Doctor of Medicine degree in Georgia and the first woman to argue a case before the Georgia Supreme Court.

Logo

Location

Macon, Georgia

Points of pride

Wesleyan takes pride in its long relationship with the United Methodist Church and its role as a pioneer in women’s education. Through strong academic programs, leadership roles, and service opportunities, Wesleyan women are taking their convictions out into the world and making significant contributions in disciplines like biogenetics and molecular engineering, and serving in impoverished communities. Wesleyan women are shaping the world.

Thumbnail

Degree type

Phone

800.447.6610

Website

Athletics

Settings

Affiliation

Class Options

Email

Areas of Study

Graduate Programs

1836

Visit

Apply

Net Price Calculator

Facebook Page URL

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wesleyan-College-First-For-Women/53321571759

Twitter Username

WesleyanCollege

Salem College

Main image

Short History

Believing that women deserved an education comparable to that given men -- a radical view for that era -- the Moravians began a school for girls in 1772. In 1802, it became a boarding school for girls and young women; in 1866, it was renamed Salem Female Academy. Salem began granting college degrees in the 1890s.

Logo

Location

Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Points of pride

Rooted in the distinct Moravian commitment to education, Salem's core values are learning grounded in the pursuit of excellence, in community and in responsibility to self and the world. The traditions of the early Moravians continue to play an important role in the life of the College.

Thumbnail

Degree type

Website

Athletics

Settings

Affiliation

Class Options

Email

Areas of Study

Graduate Programs

1772

Visit

Apply

Net Price Calculator

Facebook Page URL

https://www.facebook.com/salemcollege

Twitter Username

SalemCollege

Simmons University

Main image

Short History

Simmons College was founded in 1899 by Boston businessman John Simmons, who had a revolutionary idea — that women should be able to earn independent livelihoods and lead meaningful lives. It was this same spirit of inclusion and empowerment that produced the first African-American Simmons graduate in 1914, and made Simmons one of the only private colleges that did not impose admission quotas on Jewish students during the first half of the 1900s.

Logo

Location

Boston, Massachusetts

Points of pride

Located in the heart of Boston, Simmons is a private university, home to a respected women’s undergraduate program and coeducational graduate programs in fields that advance the common good. Simmons has established a model of higher education that other colleges and universities are only recently beginning to adapt: the combination of education for leadership in high-demand professional fields with the intellectual foundation of the liberal arts. The result is a Simmons graduate prepared not only to work, but to lead in professional, civic, and personal life - a vision of empowerment that Simmons calls preparation for life’s work.

Thumbnail

Degree type

Website

Athletics

Settings

Affiliation

Class Options

Email

Areas of Study

Art

Graduate Programs

1899

Visit

Apply

Net Price Calculator

Facebook Page URL

https://www.facebook.com/SimmonsUniversity

Twitter Username

https://twitter.com/simmonsuniv

Wellesley College

Main image

Short History

Wellesley College was founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant, who were passionate about the higher education of women. Wellesley’s first president, Ada Howard, and nearly all of the College’s early educators and administrators were women.

Logo

Location

Wellesley, Massachusetts

Points of pride

Wellesley's motto is "Not to be ministered unto but to minister." Smart, serious women choose Wellesley because the college believes in making a difference; disciplined thinking; pragmatic leadership; valuing diversity; and service.

Thumbnail

Degree type

Website

Athletics

Settings

Affiliation

Class Options

Email

Areas of Study

1870

Visit

Apply

Net Price Calculator

Facebook Page URL

https://www.facebook.com/WellesleyCollege

Twitter Username

https://twitter.com/wellesley

Scripps College

Main image

Short History

Educator, publisher, and philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps dedicated her dreams as well as her resources to pioneering an innovative setting for women's education as an integral part of The Claremont Colleges. At ninety years of age, she still saw life in terms of possibility and spoke of the women's college that opened its doors in 1926 as her "new adventure."

Logo

Location

Claremont, California

Points of pride

An understanding and appreciation of diverse peoples, cultures, and perspectives informs the intellectual framework on which Scripps mission is based. The College is committed to demonstrating that respect of differences among people is a prerequisite to achieving institutional excellence. It means that virtually every conversation will have many more than two viewpoints; it means that the underlying assumptions of every question will be probed.

Thumbnail

Degree type

Website

Athletics

Settings

Affiliation

Class Options

Email

Areas of Study

1926

Visit

Apply

Net Price Calculator

Facebook Page URL

https://www.facebook.com/scrippscollege

Twitter Username

scrippscollege