Claremont Colleges

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The Claremont Colleges (known colloquially as the 7Cs) are a consortium of seven private institutions of higher education located in Claremont, California, United States. They comprise five undergraduate colleges (the 5Cs)—Pomona College, Scripps College, Claremont McKenna College (CMC), Harvey Mudd College, and Pitzer College—and two graduate schools: Claremont Graduate University (CGU) and Keck Graduate Institute (KGI). All the members of the consortium, except KGI, have adjoining campuses, together covering roughly Template:Cvt.

The consortium was founded in 1925 by Pomona College president James A. Blaisdell, who proposed a collegiate university 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. The consortium has since grown to roughly Template:Wikidata studentsTemplate:Wikidata and Template:Wikidata faculty and staff,Template:Wikidata and offers more than 2,000 courses every semester.<ref name="Homepage">Template:Cite web</ref> Admission to the Claremont Colleges is considered highly selective.<section begin="reputation reference" /><ref name="reputation">Characterizations of the reputation of the Claremont Colleges:

The colleges share a central library, campus safety services, health services, and other resources, managed by The Claremont Colleges Services (TCCS). Among the undergraduate schools, there is significant social interaction and academic cross-registration, but each college maintains a distinct identity.Template:Sfn<ref name="SFGate town">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Brink">Template:Cite book</ref>

Colleges

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The five undergraduate colleges are:

The two graduate universities are:

  • Claremont Graduate University (founded 1925) awards master's and doctoral degrees in 31 disciplines across seven schools.
  • Keck Graduate Institute (founded 1997) is a biomedical graduate school, with schools of applied life science, pharmacy and health sciences, and medicine. It also formerly co-sponsored a remote four-year undergraduate program, Minerva Schools at KGI, which has since spun off as Minerva University, an independent institution no longer affiliated with KGI or with the Claremont Colleges.

The Claremont School of Theology (founded 1885<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>) (and thus Claremont Lincoln University) is affiliated with the consortium but is not a member.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In January 2024, after nearly a decade, the Claremont School of Theology finalized a deal to sell the 16 acres of prime Village real estate it has occupied since 1957 back to the Claremont Colleges for $7.7 million.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

An exterior view of Pomona College in 1907, featuring its two earliest buildings: Sumner Hall (right)<ref name="USC Claremont Hotel photo">Template:Cite web</ref> and Holmes Hall (left)<ref name="1893 timeline">Template:Cite web</ref>

Before the idea of the Claremont Colleges, Pomona College was founded in 1887 in Pomona, California.<ref name=":02">Template:Cite web</ref> Pomona began after a group of congregationalists envisioned a "New England-type" college on the West Coast.<ref name=":02" /><ref name="Class NYT">Template:Cite news</ref> The college relocated to Claremont in 1888 after acquiring an unfinished hotel there.<ref name=":02" /> By 1923, Pomona College faced a problem:<ref name=":02" /> the school's population was growing. Pomona had to choose to either continue expanding or to limit the amount of growth at the college. The college's president at the time, James Blaisdell, developed a different option. He advised that the college choose to form a consortium of differentiated small colleges, modeled after Oxford and Cambridge. In October 1923, Blaisdell wrote to Ellen Browning Scripps describing a vision of educational excellence he had for the future Claremont Colleges:

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Construction of Eleanor Joy Toll Hall at Scripps, Template:Circa

The start of the Claremont Colleges came in 1925 with the addition of a graduate school, now known as Claremont Graduate University.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref> The college was originally known as Claremont College and began to function in 1927.<ref name=":2" /> The second addition came in 1926 when Ellen Browning Scripps founded Scripps College.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite web</ref> Scripps College allowed Ellen Browning Scripps to put-forth her plan of a school which offered women access to a higher education, to better their professional careers and to better their personal lives.Template:CN Scripps College officially opened in 1927.<ref name=":3" />

The novelty of the arrangement, combined with marketing that drew up the perception of the West Coast as a novel frontier, led to nationwide interest in and praise for the colleges in the 1930s.Template:Sfn Paul Monroe of Harvard University, the foremost educational historian of the era, wrote that year, "The torch of learning was borne aloft in the first century by Antioch and Athens; in the second century by Rome and Alexandria; by Padua and Paris in the twelfth; Oxford and Cambridge in the fifteenth; Harvard and Yale in the seventeenth; Columbia and Chicago in the nineteenth; the Claremont Colleges of the West in the twentieth."Template:Sfn

View of the Claremont Colleges in 2018, looking north from the Smith Clock Tower

In 1946, 86 students and 7 faculty members formed the fourth institution of the Claremont Colleges, the Claremont Men's College, now known as Claremont McKenna College.<ref name=":4">Template:Cite web</ref> CMC was formed as a fully male undergraduate school until women were admitted in 1976.<ref name=":4" /> In 1955, Harvey Mudd College became the fifth institute in the consortium.<ref name=":5">Template:Cite web</ref> HMC was founded by Harvey Seeley Mudd, a former chairman of the Board of Fellows of Claremont College.<ref name=":5" /> He envisioned an undergraduate college in the consortium that focused its education in science and engineering. In 1963, Pitzer College joined the Claremont Colleges.<ref name=":6">Template:Cite web</ref> Pitzer was founded as a college for woman focusing on the social sciences.<ref name=":6" /> Later in 1970, Pitzer enrolled 80 men.<ref name=":6" /> The school was named after Russell K. Pitzer, an important benefactor in the development of the institution.<ref name=":6" /> The final and seventh college to join the consortium was Keck Graduate Institute.<ref name=":7">Template:Cite web</ref> KGI was founded in 1997 after a $50 million donation from W.M. Keck Foundation.<ref name=":7" /> The graduate school focuses on post-graduate biomedical applications.<ref name=":7" /> Initially planned to be located on Bernard Field Station lands, protests forced the institute to relocate to a site southwest of the Claremont Village.<ref name="LAT Keck protests">Template:Cite news</ref> Alongside the institutions, Claremont College Services was founded on July 1, 2000.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> The Claremont College Services provides educational support to all the institutions in the consortium.<ref name=":0" /> Specifically, TCCS aids in projects of group planning, establishment of new institutions into the consortium and hold expansion lands.<ref name=":0" />

Organization and operation

The Claremont Colleges employ approximately 3,600 people Template:As of.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A report commissioned for the colleges estimated that the consortium had a regional economic impact of $706.8 million during the 2016–2017 academic year.<ref>Template:Cite report</ref>

Reputation and rankings

Admission to the Claremont Colleges is considered highly selective.<ref name="reputation" /> The Fiske Guide to Colleges describes the consortium as "a collection of intellectual resources unmatched in America."<ref name="Amplified">Template:Cite book</ref> According to the American Liberal Arts College rankings released by U.S. News & World Report in fall 2021, the "5Cs" were ranked among the top 35 liberal arts colleges in the United States: Pomona College (#3), Claremont McKenna College (#9), Harvey Mudd College (#29), Scripps College (#33), and Pitzer College (#33). Additionally, all of the undergraduate colleges are categorized as "Most Selective".<ref>[1] Template:Webarchive U.S. News & World Report, 2021.</ref> Forbes ranked the 5C's among the top 60 undergraduate colleges (including universities and military academies) in the nation and within the top 25 liberal arts colleges for its 2017 report: Pomona College (#10 overall, #1 LAC), Claremont McKenna College (#11 overall, #2 LAC), Harvey Mudd College (#18 overall, #5 LAC), Scripps College (#43 overall, #16 LAC), and Pitzer College (#59 overall, #23 LAC).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2025, Niche listed the top 3 liberal arts colleges in the United States as Harvey Mudd College (#1), Pomona College (#2), and Claremont McKenna College (#3).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> U.S. News & World Report also releases individual graduate program rankings for the Claremont Graduate University, with several of its programs ranking in the top tier of graduate programs nationwide.<ref>[2] Template:Webarchive U.S. News & World Report, 2021.</ref>

Shared facilities, programs, and resources

Honnold Library

Each college is independent in that students receive their degrees from the one college in which they are enrolled, and administration and admissions departments are independent. The seven-institution Claremont Colleges system is supported by The Claremont Colleges Services (TCCS), which provides centralized services, such as a library, student health, financial and human resources, telecommunications, risk management, real estate, physical plant maintenance, and other services, for those colleges.

<section begin="library holdings" />The Claremont Colleges Library (also known as Honnold/Mudd Library) holds more than Template:Format price items Template:As of, of which Template:Format price are physical and Template:Format price are digital.Template:Wd<section end="library holdings" />

The Tranquada Student Services Center

Other shared facilities include Campus Safety, the Tranquada Student Services Center (which houses Baxter Medical Center, Monsour Counseling Center, and the Health Education Outreach), McAlister Center (home of the Office of the Chaplains and the Claremont Card Center), EmPOWER Center (which works to address sexual violence), the Huntley Bookstore, all dining facilities, and several sports facilities. <section begin="Hive" />The Sontag Center for Collaborative Creativity, colloquially termed "the Hive", was established in 2015 to support creative learning.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="TSL Hive">Template:Cite news</ref><section end="Hive" /> The Claremont Colleges Library is an example of the level of cooperation in terms of support services. The size of the library collection ranks third among the private institutions in California, behind only Stanford and USC.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Shared academic departments include the Intercollegiate Women's Studies Center, the Intercollegiate Department of Chicano Studies, the Intercollegiate Department of Asian American Studies, the Intercollegiate Department of Africana Studies (formerly Black Studies), the Intercollegiate Department of Religious Studies, the Intercollegiate Department of Media Studies, and the Five-College Theater Department. In January 2008, the Claremont Colleges also formed the Claremont Center for the Mathematical Sciences, which is led by the Claremont Graduate University and is a collaborative center for faculty members working in mathematics.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Shared intercollegiate programs include the European Union Center of California, the Chicano/Latino Student Affairs Center, the Office of Black Student Affairs, the Office of the Chaplains, Hillel, and the Queer Resource Center.

Bernard Field Station, with the San Gabriel Mountains in the background

In addition, Pitzer College and Scripps College share a single science program, the Department of Natural Sciences.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Many research projects and courses use the Robert J. Bernard Field Station, an Template:Cvt natural area which consists principally of the rare Coastal Sage Scrub ecosystem.

The Claremont Colleges have been praised by higher education experts for their high level of cooperation<ref name="Tough CHE">Template:Cite news</ref> and the overall success of their model,<ref name="LAT experiment" /> although the colleges' differing financial resources have led to occasional tensions.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> They have influenced the operations of other consortia and collegiate universities, but their model remains unique with few other institutions operating comparably.<ref name="LAT experiment" /><ref name="Brink" />

Clubs and organizations

Template:Multiple image Some extracurricular organizations on campus are specific to an individual college, whereas others are open to students at all 5Cs or 7Cs.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In total, there are nearly 300 clubs and organizations across the 5Cs.<ref name="5C clubs Engage">Template:Cite web</ref>

<section begin=Media />There are several media organizations at the Claremont Colleges, the largest of which is The Student Life,<ref name="TSL Engage">Template:Cite web</ref> the oldest college newspaper in Southern California.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It publishes a weekly print edition as well as online content.<ref name="TSL About">Template:Cite news</ref> {{#switch: Claremont Colleges | Claremont Colleges = The college-specific newspapers Scripps Voice, CMC Forum, and Muddraker cover their home institutions.<ref name="5C clubs Engage" /> | Pomona College = | Scripps College = Additionally, Scripps has a college-specific newspaper, The Scripps Voice. | Claremont McKenna = Additionally, CMC has a college-specific online newspaper, the CMC Forum. | Harvey Mudd = Additionally, Harvey Mudd has a college-specific newspaper, The Muddraker. | Pitzer College = }} Pomona also has a student-run radio station, KSPC.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Claremont Independent, a conservative magazine, has produced articles about the 5Cs' political culture that have been picked up by national conservative media outlets and drawn criticism from many students.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Golden Antlers publishes satirical content.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><section end=Media />

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A line of students, many wearing costumes or swimwear, descends toward an alpine ridge
An On the Loose hike descends from the summit of Mount Baldy toward the Devil's Backbone ridge in the San Gabriel Mountains north of campus.

On the Loose (OTL), the outing club of the 5Cs, sponsors trips to outdoors destinations.<ref name="On the Loose">Template:Cite web</ref> Its flagship event, an annual hike up Mount Baldy in swimwear or goofy costumes,<ref name="Pizza hike TSL">Template:Cite news</ref> can draw more than 100 participants.<ref name="TSL speedo hike cancelled">Template:Cite news</ref> It is affiliated with the Outdoor Education Center of Pomona College (OEC), which lends equipment to students for free and provides outdoor leadership training.<ref name="OTL OEC TSL">Template:Cite news</ref><section end="OTL" />

<section begin="Performance groups" />There are several dance groups on campus, including the Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company (CCBDC), which has more than 130 dancers,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> making it the third-largest collegiate program in the U.S.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It has won multiple national championships.Template:Sfn The Pomona College Theater Department produces four mainstage productions and a dance concert each year, and there are several smaller student-run productions as well.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The 5Cs have two improv groups, Without a Box and Underground Theatrical Institution (UTI).<ref name="5C clubs Engage" /><section end="Performance groups" />

<section begin=A capella />There are eight a cappella groups on campus.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> One, the Claremont Shades, hosts the annual SCAMFest concert, which draws singers from other Southern California colleges.<ref name=":1" /> Another, Midnight Echo, hosts the less extensive annual Human Symphony. The other six groups are the Ninth Street Hooligans, Blue & White, After School Specials, Earth Tones, Mood Swing, and One Night Stanza.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref><section end=A capella />

Comparison of undergraduate colleges

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Pomona<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Scripps<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Claremont McKenna<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Harvey Mudd<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Pitzer<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Students 1766 1137 1393 921 1242
Faculty 243 136 184 110 118
2021 endowment<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> $3.04 billion $540 million $1.22 billion $443 million $179 million
2016 cost of attendance<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> $68,790 $70,497 $70,523 $73,550 $70,025
Domestic white, non-Hispanic students 35.2% 52.9% 41.4% 33.9% 45.4%
Domestic students of color 47.3% 37.4% 36.2% 50.6% 38.4%
International students 11.5% 5.5% 16.9% 10.1% 10.9%
Receiving financial aid 56.1% 56.7% 45.5% 69.1% 42.1%
Male/female ratio 50:50 0:100 52:48 52:48 46:54
2018 acceptance rate<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 7.0% 24.1% 8.9% 14.5% 13.2%
2017 transfer acceptance rate 9.6% N/A 2.5% 6.8% 13.5%
First-Year Admitted Yield 54% 34% 53% 36% 43%
Six-year graduation rate 93% 88% 90% 96% 83%
Retention rate 98% 92% 97% 98% 95%
Enrolled SAT 25–75% range 1370–1530 1284–1458 1340–1510 1470–1570 1310–1490
Enrolled ACT 25–75% range 30–34 29–33 30–34 33–35 29–32
Ranked in top 10% of HS class 94% 73% 82% 90% 63%
Ranked in top 25% of HS class 100% 91% 96% 100% 88%
Percent of classes under 10 students 18% 17% 8% 32% 15%
Percent of classes under 20 students 71% 80% 84% 58% 71%
Percent of classes over 50 students 0% 0% 2% 4% 0%

People

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James Blaisdell
James Blaisdell, founder of the Claremont Colleges

Many notable people have been affiliated with the colleges as alumni, faculty, staff, and administrators. Coverage of them is divided into articles by college:

The CEO of The Claremont Colleges Services is Stig Lanesskog.<ref name="CEO" />

Athletics

A Pomona-Pitzer football game

Template:Main Pomona College and Pitzer College compete together as the Pomona–Pitzer (PP) Sagehens.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College and Scripps College also compete together as the Claremont–Mudd–Scripps (CMS) Stags (for male teams) and Athenas (for female teams).<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The teams participate in NCAA Division III in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC). In the Division III Final Standings for the 2016–2017 academic year, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps ranked fourth nationally, while Pomona-Pitzer ranked 29th; they were the top two performers in the SCIAC.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Culturally, the Claremont Colleges place less emphasis on sports than many other institutions.<ref name="LAT experiment">Template:Cite news</ref>

Club and intramural sports

In addition to the varsity teams, there are several 5C club sports teams.

The roller hockey club, the Claremont Centaurs, won the Division 3 Championship of the West Coast Roller Hockey League in 2009–2010, 2010–2011, and 2011–2012.

The men's and women's rugby union both attended Division II Nationals in 2004 and 2006, and the men's team (Claremont Colleges Lions) won the Division II national championship in 2010 and the National Small College championship in 2017 and 2019.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The women's ultimate team reached Nationals in 2004, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and won the tournament in 2012, and the men's ultimate frisbee were 2008 Southern California Sectional champions and 2011 Division III National champions.

Other club sports offered at the 5Cs include men's lacrosse, field hockey, crew, and cycling.

Notes

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References

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Bibliography

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