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Summary
Mills College is a private institution that was founded in 1852. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 936, its setting is urban, and the campus size is 135 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Mills College's ranking in the 2013 edition of Best Colleges is Regional Universities (West), 5. Its tuition and fees are $40,080 (2012-13).
Mills College is a small women’s school in Oakland, Calif., on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay. In 1852, workers who traveled west needed a school to educate their daughters, so they founded Mills, which became the first women’s college west of the Rocky Mountains. Today, the school offers more than 50 liberal arts majors to its roughly 1,500 undergraduate students. Both women and men may enroll in any of Mills’ nearly 15 graduate majors, which include the highly ranked Fine Arts program.
Outside the classroom, students can attend events such as the annual Earth Day Fair, visit the Mills Art Museum, or join any of the more than 50 student organizations. Mills also offers recreational opportunities through fitness classes, intramural sports, and the Cyclones varsity athletic teams. The Cyclones compete in the NCAA Division III California Pacific Conference, with cross country, rowing, soccer, swimming, tennis, track and field, and volleyball teams. Most of Mills’s notable alumni are musicians, including guitarist and producer Noah Georgeson, who has worked with acts such as Joanna Newsom and Devendra Banhart.
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Mills College offers women the opportunity to study and grow in a dynamic environment that supports intellectual exploration and a thoughtful approach to life. Working closely with renowned faculty members and diverse students in intimate, collaborative classes, Mills women explore, debate, and challenge conventional thinking-both inside and outside the classroom. Students work with faculty members on meaningful real-world projects and engage with distinguished professors, thinkers, writers, and artists. Set on a lush 135-acre park-like campus, Mills provides a beautiful home with convenient access to the thriving cultural, artistic, social, and professional worlds of the metropolitan San Francisco Bay Area. |
General Information
| School type | private, women's college |
| Year founded | 1852 |
| Religious affiliation | N/A |
| Academic calendar | semester |
| Setting | urban |
| 2011 Endowment | $183,397,313 |
Applying
When applying to Mills College, it's important to note the application deadline is March 1, and the early action deadline is November 15. Scores for either the ACT or SAT test are due March 1. The application fee at Mills College is $50. It is more selective, with an acceptance rate of 57.0 percent and an early acceptance rate of 40.2 percent.
For more information about the tests, essays, interviews, and admissions process, visit the Applying to College knowledge center.
| Selectivity | more selective |
| Fall 2011 acceptance rate | 57.0% |
| Application deadline | March 1 |
| SAT/ACT scores must be received by | March 1 |
Academic Life
The student-faculty ratio at Mills College is 11:1, and the school has 76.6 percent of its classes with fewer than 20 students. The most popular majors at Mills College include: English Language and Literature/Letters; Social Sciences; Area, Ethnic, Cultural, Gender, and Group Studies; Psychology; and Visual and Performing Arts. The average freshman retention rate, an indicator of student satisfaction, is 77.5 percent.
Student Life
Mills College has a total undergraduate enrollment of 936, with a gender distribution of 0.0 percent male students and 100.0 percent female students. At this school, 55.0 percent of the students live in college-owned, -operated, or -affiliated housing and 45.0 percent of students live off campus. Mills College is part of the NCAA III athletic conference.
| Total enrollment | 1,548 |
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| Undergraduate men who are members of a fraternity | N/A |
| Undergraduate women who are members of a sorority | N/A |
| Collegiate athletic association | NCAA III |
Campus Info & Services
Mills College offers a number of student services including nonremedial tutoring, women's center, placement service, health service, and health insurance. Mills College also offers campus safety and security services like 24-hour foot and vehicle patrols, late night transport/escort service, 24-hour emergency telephones, lighted pathways/sidewalks, and controlled dormitory access (key, security card, etc). Alcohol is permitted for students of legal age at Mills College.
| Students who have cars on campus | N/A |
| Health insurance offered | Yes |
| Students required to own/lease a computer | No |
More About Campus Info & Services
Paying for School
At Mills College, 84.7 percent of full-time undergraduates receive some kind of need-based financial aid and the average need-based scholarship or grant award is $19,354.
Paying for college doesn't have to be difficult or devastating. Go to the Paying for College knowledge center to get advice on raising cash and reducing costs.
| Tuition and fees | $40,080 (2012-13) |
| Room and board | $12,340 (2012-13) |
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* Overview details based on 2011 data
