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Claremont Education
EDUCATION
The Claremont Colleges (TCC) are a consortium of seven highly selective private institutions of higher education located in Claremont. They comprise five undergraduate colleges: Pomona College, Scripps College, Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College, and Pitzer College, and two graduate schools: Claremont Graduate University and Keck Graduate Institute.
Located on contiguous campuses in the Southern California city of Claremont, each institution has its own student body, faculty, governance, curricular emphasis, culture, and mission. Intercollegiate cooperation provides university-scale services and facilities. With 8,500 students and 3,200 faculty and staff located on more than 540 acres of land, The Claremont Colleges benefit from the diverse missions, character, and culture and the integration of academic and extracurricular programs that make up this truly unique consortium.
The consortium of colleges was founded in 1925 by Pomona College President James A. Blaisdell, who proposed a collegiate uni-
versity design inspired by Oxford University. He sought to provide the specialization, flexibility, and personal attention commonly found in small colleges but with the resources of a large university.
In 1923, Blaisdell said, “My own very deep hope is that instead of one great, undifferentiated university, we might have a group of institutions divided into small colleges — somewhat of an Oxford type — around a library and other utilities which they would use in common. In this way, I should hope to preserve the inestimable personal values of the small college while securing the facilities of the great university.”
Visitors may enjoy a leisurely walk through the tree-filled campuses, where one can encounter architect-designed buildings from the 1880s to contemporary designs. Art, sculpture, and murals abound in hidden gardens and courtyards. Renowned architects practiced in Claremont, and many designed master plans for entire campuses and individual buildings located throughout America. Scripps College, considered one of the nation’s most beautiful college campuses, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was designed by Gordon Kauffman, who also designed the Los Angeles Times Building, Greystone Mansion, and Hoover Dam, among other works. The imposing Bridges Auditorium and the beautiful Mabel Shaw Bridges Hall of Music on the Pomona College campus were designed by Pasadena architect Myron Hunt, also known for the Huntington Hotel and Huntington Library.
POMONA COLLEGE (1887)
Pomona College is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading liberal arts colleges, offering an ideal environment for intellectually curious students to pursue their academic goals across 48 majors, with sponsored research and internships as well. Pomona holds a unique role in creating opportunity in American higher education and is committed to enrolling the best students regardless of financial circumstances. To that end, Pomona is one of a small group of colleges that meet 100% of demonstrated need without loans. Our close-knit student body is diverse in background and academic pursuits yet unified by a spirit of collaboration — and a commitment to sparking real change in our world.
CLAREMONT GRADUATE UNIVERSITY (1925)
Since its founding in 1925, Claremont Graduate University (CGU) has offered an intimate, high-touch academic research environment. CGU has a unique brand of graduate-only scholarship that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries to foster the creation of new knowledge—and new ways of seeing and improving the world. Globally recognized faculty scholars lead specialized programs, including a new array of professional doctorates, which may be tailored to specific interests and career aspirations. CGU students receive practice-based training and individual mentorship that prepares them for successful employment and enables them to effect positive social change.
SCRIPPS COLLEGE (1926)
Scripps College is a top-ranked, private, residential women’s liberal arts college, founded in 1926 by newspaper publisher and philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps. Scripps offers a rigorous interdisciplinary curriculum, a robust intellectual community, a commitment to diversity and inclusion, and a rich residential experience designed to shape the next generation of leaders. Through active student participation in a community of scholars, the College prepares graduates to contribute to society through leadership, service, integrity, and creativity. Top majors include politics, psychology, biology, environmental analysis, English, media studies, and neuroscience.
CLAREMONT MCKENNA COLLEGE (1946)
Claremont McKenna College is a highly selective, independent, coeducational, residential, undergraduate liberal arts college. Its mission is to educate its students for thoughtful and productive lives and responsible leadership in business, government, and the professions and to support faculty and student scholarship that contribute to intellectual vitality and the understanding of public policy issues. The College pursues this mission by providing a liberal arts education that emphasizes economics and political science, a professoriate that is dedicated to effective undergraduate teaching, a close student-teacher relationship that fosters critical inquiry, an active residential and intellectual environment that promotes responsible citizenship, and a program of research institutes and scholarly support that makes possible a faculty of teacher-scholars.
HARVEY MUDD COLLEGE (1955)
Harvey Mudd College (HMC) is a premier engineering, science and mathematics college in the United States. HMC educates engineers, scientists and mathematicians who become leaders in their fields and clearly understand their work’s impact on society. For more than 50 years, HMC has led the way with interactive undergraduate research opportunities on par with graduate institutions. HMC has a strong focus on the humanities, social sciences, and the arts, exceptional faculty members who challenge students to achieve beyond their expectations, and one of the nation’s highest rates of graduates who go on to earn Ph.Ds in the sciences. HMC’s graduates are highly trained scientists, technologists, educators, entrepreneurs, and other professionals who are committed to excellence, integrity, equity, and inclusion.
PITZER COLLEGE (1963)
Pitzer College is a top-ranked liberal arts and sciences college. Pitzer’s approach to education is distinguished by five core values: Interdisciplinary Learning, Social Responsibility, Environmental Sustainability, Intercultural Understanding, and Student Engagement. Focused educational objectives and values-driven coursework guide undergraduates as they plan their academic careers as agents of change. Students can work with faculty advisers to create their own special majors, shaping their college experience. They are encouraged to collaborate with community members on local projects and critically examine the effects of social and environmental policies. Since its inception, Pitzer has pioneered fields, such as environmental studies and secular studies.
KECK GRADUATE INSTITUTE (1997)
KGI offers innovative postgraduate degrees and certificates that integrate life and health sciences, business, pharmacy, engineering, medicine, and genetics, with a focus on industry projects, hands-on industry experiences, and team collaboration. With an entrepreneurial approach and industry connections, KGI provides pathways for students to become leaders within healthcare and the applied life sciences. KGI consists of three schools: Henry E. Riggs School of Applied Life Sciences, School of Medicine, and School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.
