Mills College

Location and Contact Information

The campus is in a large city.

Overview

Mills College, established in 1852 as the Young Ladies’ Seminary in Benicia, California, is an independent liberal arts college for women located in Oakland, California.The campus of Mills College is spread across an area of 135 acres. The institution provides over 40 undergraduate and more than 20 graduate degrees and certificate programs. Its graduate programs are available to both women and men. The diverse student body of Mills College comprises of national and international students representing more than 45 states in the U.S and 10 countries around the world. Opportunities of studying abroad are also provided to the students here.

The school notes itself as having several firsts, including: the first women's college west of the Rockies (chartered 1885); the first laboratory school west of the Mississippi for teachers (1926); the first women’s college to offer a computer science major (1974); the first business school in the West for women (2005); and the first MFA program in book art and creative writing in the nation (2009). Mills also cites its strong arts heritage -- for example it was among the earliest liberal arts colleges to offer a modern dance degree (1941) and its Center for Contemporary Music founded in 1967 is known for its work with electronic music.

Mills has been ranked highly as an institution by various publications and organizations. In 2010, for instance, it was ranked fourth among colleges and universities in the West by U.S. News & World Report. It was also ranked a top 10 best all-women's college and 55th among America's colleges by Forbes.com.

Through the years the school reports that a number of notable artists, scholars, and politicians have participated as teachers, lecturers, and performers, including: Gertrude Stein, Mark Twain, Darius Milhaud, Alfred Neumeyer, John Cage, Isabel Allende, and Gloria Steinem. The school also has a long list of notable alumni, including: Yvonne Harrison Solow, author; Meredith May, journalist; May Lee, journalist; Renel Brooks-Moon, sports announcer; Molissa Fenley, dancer and choreographer; Steven Reich, composer and performer; and Dixy Lee Ray, politician.

Mills College has an active student life and supports over 40 clubs and organizations. These are Black Women's Collective, Classic Films Club, Green Institute for Village Empowerment, Muslim Student Association, and National Society of Collegiate Scholars at Mills among others.

Highlights (vs. Other Schools)

• Many students concentrating in music, art studies, liberal arts, and drama and performing arts.
• High faculty salary.
• Large number of students.
• Number of dorm rooms for students.
• Large number of programs of study offered.
• High female/male ratio.
• Good faculty-to-student ratio.
• High SAT scores (combined Verbal and Math).
• Racially diverse student body.
• High percentage of students are from out-of-state.

School characteristics:

• The school is private, not-for-profit.
• Academic calender: Semester.
• Carnegie classification: Baccalaureate Colleges, Liberal Arts.

Features of note:

• The school offers a faculty tenure system.
• There are one or more libraries on-campus.
• Campus housing is available.
• Students have meal (board) plans.
• Students may study abroad.
• Part-time classes are available.

Similar Schools

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Degrees Awarded (in 2009-2010)

Faculty

Tenure (2009-2010):

Students

Student enrollment was 1,476 in 2009-2010 (1,317 full-time equivalent).

women were 99% of the class.

Undergrads are 65% of enrolled students and graduate students are 35%.

Students under 25 years old represent 59% of the student body. About 9% of the school is at least 40 years of age.

Among freshmen students, 99% are full-time and 1% are part-time.

Admissions Summary (2009-2010)

SAT Test Scores:

Room and Board

Mills College provides on-campus housing for 708 of its 1,317 (full-time) students (as of 2009-2010).

Students may purchase a meal plan which includes 19 meals weekly.

Athletics

The school is in the California Pacific Conference for major sports.

Graduate School Focus

Mills College offers graduate (post-Bachelor) studies. The highest degree offered is the Doctorate (Research/Scholarship).

The school's Graduate School Carnegie Classification is Single Doctoral (Education).

Programs of Study

(Number of degrees in 2009-2010 in parentheses)

ART STUDIES (19 awarded)

• Art/Art Studies

BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT (37 awarded)

• Business/Managerial Economics

COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING (4 awarded)

• Computer and Information Sciences

CONSERVATION AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (4 awarded)

• Environmental Science
• Environmental Studies

DRAMA AND PERFORMING ARTS (8 awarded)

• Dance

EDUCATION AND TEACHING (86 awarded)

• Art Teacher Education
• Early Childhood Education and Teaching
• Education
• Education/Teaching Individuals - Early Childhood Spec Ed Pgms
• Educational Administration and Supervision
• Educational Leadership and Administration
• Secondary Education and Teaching
• Teacher Education, Multiple Levels

FAMILY AND SOCIAL WORK (24 awarded)

• Child Care and Support Services Management
• Child Development
• Public Policy Analysis

FINE ARTS (12 awarded)

• Art History, Criticism and Conservation

LIBERAL ARTS (165 awarded)

• American/United States Studies/Civilization
• Comparative Literature
• Creative Writing
• Economics
• English Language and Literature
• English Literature (British and Commonwealth)
• Ethnic, Cultural Minority, and Gender Studies
• Foreign Languages and Literatures
• French Language and Literature
• Hispanic-American,Puerto Rican & Mexican-American/Chicano Studies
• History
• International Relations and Affairs
• Latin American Studies
• Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies
• Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies
• Political Science and Government
• Social Sciences
• Sociology
• Spanish Language and Literature
• Women's Studies

MATHEMATICS (3 awarded)

• Mathematics

MEDICINE (26 awarded)

• Pre-Medicine/Pre-Medical Studies

MUSIC (20 awarded)

• Music Performance
• Music Theory and Composition
• Music

NURSING AND EMERGENCY MEDICINE (24 awarded)

• Nursing

PHOTOGRAPHY AND COMMERCIAL ART (6 awarded)

• Intermedia/Multimedia

RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY (2 awarded)

• Philosophy

SCIENCE (23 awarded)

• Biochemistry/Biophysics and Molecular Biology
• Biology/Biological Sciences
• Biopsychology
• Chemistry

THERAPY AND COUNSELING (24 awarded)

• Psychology