For more than 150 years, Mills College has enjoyed a reputation as a vibrant center of academic excellence. Historically a college for women only, Mills continues that proud tradition today at the undergraduate level. To provide enhanced professional opportunities for all students, Mills also offers renowned graduate programs open to both women and men. Ranked fourth among top colleges in the West by U.S. News & World Report, Mills has been recognized as one of the "Great Schools, Great Prices" for high academic quality relative to the net cost of attendance. Mills has also been named one of the greenest colleges in the nation by The Princeton Review. With more than one-third of the student body identifying as women of color, Mills brings together students with a wide range of ethnicities, interests, backgrounds, and ages.

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Mission
Mills is an independent liberal arts college for women with graduate programs for women and men. The College educates students to think critically and communicate responsibly and effectively, to accept the challenges of their creative visions, and to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to effect thoughtful changes in a global, multicultural society.

Academic Environment
Inspired by a teaching philosophy that grows out of a long-standing dedication to women’s education, Mills provides a creative learning environment that encourages intellectual exploration. The faculty of nationally and internationally respected scholars and artists is dedicated to developing the strengths of every student, preparing them for lifelong intellectual, personal, and professional growth.

With an impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 12:1, Mills women are assured access to and support from these inspiring and committed professors. The hallmark of a Mills education is the collaboration between dedicated students and distinguished faculty that goes beyond the classroom and into meaningful work and innovative research.

Mills encourages openness to experimentation in the context of established academic disciplines. Programs are designed to reflect the importance of global issues, provide an understanding of the natural world, and enhance opportunities for women throughout society. The curriculum combines traditional liberal arts with new educational initiatives that value cultural, racial, and ethnic diversity.

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Academic Programs
Mills offers the bachelor of arts degree in more than 35 majors and the bachelor of science degree in biochemistry and molecular biology, biology, biopsychology, chemistry, environmental science, and mathematics. In addition, the College offers seven dual-degree programs that enable undergraduates to earn two academic degrees within five years. At the foundation of these academic programs is the belief that an education in the liberal arts and sciences should offer the opportunity to explore and master a varied set of skills, perspectives, and disciplinary experiences.

The Mills General Education (GE) Program is guided by a set of learning outcomes, not simply a generic list of required courses. Each student designs her own general education with the guidance of her faculty advisor, tailored to her specific needs and interests. The program places the student’s work in her major in a larger context, and allows her to explore and appreciate knowledge beyond her field. GE requirements fall into three outcome categories: skills (written, quantitative, and information literacy/information technology); perspectives (interdisciplinary, women and gender, and multicultural); and disciplines (the arts, historical, natural sciences, and human institutions and behavior).

Students are not required to select a major until the end of their sophomore year, and they are encouraged to add non-major subjects to their programs even after deciding on an area of concentration. Sophomores, juniors, seniors, and in some circumstances, first-year students, may cross-register for one course per semester at UC Berkeley, California College of the Arts, or one of several other Bay Area colleges.

Students may also choose to pursue a subject as an independent study project with the supervision of a Mills professor. Mills has exchange or visiting programs with many American colleges and universities and affiliations with study abroad programs in more than 60 countries. These relationships offer additional avenues to experience different teaching styles and learning environments.

Mills offers preprofessional programs in nursing, medicine and health sciences, law, education, and business. Off-campus internships connect academic studies and career plans with on-the-job experience. Students learn from and work with faculty who are community, national, and international leaders in science, economics, mathematics, the arts, literature, education, government, and many other fields.

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Campus Life
Located in the foothills of Oakland, California, on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay, Mills offers students access to the diverse metropolitan centers that make up the greater Bay Area. Amid the green rolling hills and the century-old eucalyptus trees of the Mills campus, students find haven—a great place to live and learn—with new friends and new ideas at every turn. The campus is heavily accented with Mediterranean-style buildings, many designed by architectural innovator Julia Morgan. Paths and streams wind their way through tree groves and meadows, adding to the lush feeling that pervades the 135-acre campus. Mills students also enjoy an educational environment enriched by historic cultural resources such as the Mills College Art Museum, the Littlefield Concert Hall, and the Center for Contemporary Music.

Our students say that campus life is as important as the curriculum itself. Residential and commuting students alike participate in a variety of eclectic events that enhance learning and provide inspiration beyond the classroom. Typical offerings might include an African art exhibit, a lecture on socially responsible business, a modern dance performance, a cause-related rally, a poetry slam, or an evening of experimental music. Mills also offers a varied list of student clubs and organizations that runs the gamut from the Black Women's Collective to the Mills Earth C.O.R.P.S. (Community Organized to Respect, Protect, and Sustain the Earth).

Students can also experience one-of-a-kind resources such as the Eucalyptus Press, home to the internationally renowned Book Art Program, or the Children’s School, the first laboratory school founded west of the Mississippi. The Special Collections of the F.W. Olin Library contain more than 20,000 rare books and manuscripts, including a copy of Shakespeare's First Folio, a Mozart manuscript, and a leaf from a Gutenberg Bible. The Trefethen Aquatic Center and Haas Pavilion offer a wide variety of options for athletics, physical fitness, and recreation, while the campus chapel provides a peaceful environment for spiritual reflection and renewal.

Outside the campus gates, students have access to the urban Bay Area with Berkeley, San Francisco, Napa, and Silicon Valley nearby. Students can enjoy educational and professional opportunities afforded through stimulating cultural, artistic, and political events or simply reap the benefit of the social and recreational activities and climate of the beautiful Bay Area.

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Diversity and Social Justice Statement
Mills College embraces diversity and social justice as key components of academic, cocurricular, and residential life. The College encourages every member of our community to embrace this vision and to work to attract, support, and retain students, faculty, and staff who reflect the diversity and social justice values of Mills.

Diversity refers to the variety of personal experiences, values, and world views that arise from race, ethnicity, gender/gender identity, religious and spiritual beliefs, class, age, color, sexual orientation, disability, immigrant status, and national origin. Social justice refers to a commitment to challenging social, cultural, and economic inequalities imposed on individuals arising from any differential distribution of power, resources, and privilege at Mills and in the larger society.

Since its founding, Mills College has remained committed to empowering women to overcome the social barriers that have excluded them from educational and career opportunities. In the 20th century, Mills recognized the importance of extending this access to women from diverse backgrounds, including resumer women, parenting students, and first-generation college students. In addition, Mills graduate and professional programs are designed to provide a coeducational environment that values women's leadership and promotes gender equality. Because the College aims to educate all students to acquire the knowledge and skills to effect thoughtful changes in a global, multicultural society, we seek to create opportunities for engagement in activities that promote equity and justice.

Mills honors freedom of expression and respectful discourse as fundamental educational cornerstones. We recognize that students learn best in an environment that is safe for disagreement, recognizes and addresses diverse learning styles, and values holistic growth and wellness.

Mills recognizes that diversity and social justice are inextricably linked to academic excellence and innovation. Critical thinking, intellectual curiosity, creativity, and collaboration are all enhanced when a diverse faculty and student body interact and learn from one another. By offering a traditional liberal arts curriculum while engaging new pedagogies and diverse perspectives, Mills provides a transformative educational experience that prepares students for excellence and effective leadership in their careers, professions, and in graduate education.

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History
Founded in 1852 as the Young Ladies’ Seminary in Benicia, California, Mills College boasts a rich history as a leader in women’s education. Mills was founded two years after California was admitted to statehood and the same year the city of Oakland was established. The University of California and Stanford had yet to exist, and newly prosperous miners, farmers, and merchants wanted to educate their daughters without sending them on the perilous journey to East Coast schools.

Over the decades, Mills “firsts” have been numerous: the first women's college west of the Rockies (chartered 1885); the first laboratory school west of the Mississippi for aspiring teachers (1926); the first women’s college to offer a computer science major (1974) and a 4+1 MBA degree (2001); 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).

Always a leader in the arts, Mills was among the first liberal arts colleges to offer a modern dance degree (1941), and it became the national center for modern dance outside New York City. The Center for Contemporary Music, dedicated in 1967, is a preeminent center for electronic music.

Many of the world’s foremost artists, politicians, and scholars have taught, lectured, and performed at Mills, including Gertrude Stein, Mark Twain, Darius Milhaud, Alfred Neumeyer, John Cage, Isabel Allende, and Gloria Steinem. Notable alumnae of the College include: pioneering sports announcer Renel Brooks-Moon, dancer/choreographer Trisha Brown, ecological activist and author Stephanie Mills, artist Jennifer Losch Bartlett, business leader Bonnie Guiton Hill, and Congresswoman Barbara Lee.

For more than 150 years, Mills has continued to draw people interested in experimentation, leadership, social responsibility, and creativity—the hallmarks of a 21st-century Mills education.

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