Claremont Colleges

Clockwise from top: Pomona College, Keck Graduate Institute, the Honnold-Mudd Library, Pitzer College, Scripps College, Harvey Mudd College, Claremont McKenna College.

The Claremont Colleges (known colloquially as the 7Cs) are an American consortium of seven highly selective institutions of higher education located in Claremont, California, a city 35 miles (56 km) east of downtown Los Angeles. 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 of the members except KGI have adjoining campuses that together cover roughly 1 square mile (2.6 km2).

The consortium was founded in 1925 by Pomona 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.[1] Today, the consortium has roughly 7700 students and 3600 faculty and staff, and offers more than 2000 courses every semester.[2]

The colleges share a central library, campus safety services, and other resources. Among the undergraduate schools, there is significant social interaction and academic cross-registration, but each college still maintains a distinct identity. For the Class of 2020 admissions cycle, four of the five most selective liberal art colleges in the U.S. by acceptance rate were among the Claremont Colleges, and the remaining college, Scripps, had the second lowest acceptance rate among women's colleges.[3] The Fiske Guide to Colleges has called the consortium "a collection of intellectual resources unmatched in America".[4][5]

Colleges

The five undergraduate colleges are:

The two graduate universities are:

The Claremont School of Theology (founded 1885) (and thus Claremont Lincoln University) is affiliated with the consortium, but is not a member.

Rankings

According to the American Liberal Arts College rankings released by U.S. News & World Report in fall 2017, the "5Cs" were ranked among the top 40 liberal art colleges in the United States: Pomona College (#6), Claremont McKenna College (#8), Harvey Mudd College (#12), Scripps College (#26), and Pitzer College (#33). Additionally, all of the undergraduate colleges are categorized as "Most Selective".[6] 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).[7] Niche listed all of the undergraduate colleges within the top 30 small colleges in the United States as measured by surveys rating various components of the undergraduate experience: Pomona College (#2), Harvey Mudd College (#5), Claremont McKenna College (#10), Scripps College (#22), and Pitzer College (#29).[8] 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.[9]

Shared facilities, programs, and resources

Each college is independent in that, for example, 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.

Shared facilities include the Libraries of the Claremont Colleges, 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 Rick and Susan Sontag Center for Collaborative Creativity (The Hive), the Huntley Bookstore, all dining facilities, and several sports facilities. 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.[10]

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 Black Studies, the Intercollegiate Department of Religious Studies, the Intercollegiate Department of Media Studies, and the Five-College Theater Department.

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.

In addition, three of the Claremont Colleges—Claremont McKenna College, Pitzer College, and Scripps College—share a single science program. These three colleges pool their resources to create the largest academic department in Claremont, the Joint Science Department. Many research projects and courses utilize the Robert J. Bernard Field Station, an 86-acre (35 ha) natural area which consists principally of the rare Coastal Sage Scrub ecosystem.

Many clubs are open to students from all the undergraduate colleges. The Student Life, the largest student newspaper at the 5C's, covers all five schools and publishes a weekly print edition as well as online content. KSPC 88.7 FM is the non-profit community radio station associated with the Claremont Colleges. Students from the colleges host KSPC shows and help run the station.

Comparison of undergraduate colleges

Claremont McKenna[11]Harvey Mudd[12]Pitzer[13]Pomona[14]Scripps[15]
Students1345844111217031077
Faculty171115118240125
2017 endowment[16]$784 million$299 million$137 million$2.17 billion$337 million
2016 cost of attendance[17]$70,523$73,550$70,025$68,790$70,497
Domestic White, non-Hispanic students41.4%33.9%45.4%35.2%52.9%
Domestic students of color36.2%50.6%38.4%47.3%37.4%
International students16.9%10.1%10.9%11.5%5.5%
Receiving financial aid45.5%69.1%42.1%56.1%56.7%
Male/female ratio52:4852:4846:5450:500:100
2018 acceptance rate[18]8.9%14.5%13.2%7.0%24.1%
2017 transfer acceptance rate2.5%6.8%13.5%9.6%N/A
First-Year Admitted Yield53%36%43%54%34%
Six-year graduation rate90%96%83%93%88%
Retention rate97%98%95%98%92%
Enrolled SAT 25-75% range1340-15101470-15701310-14901370-15301284-1458
Enrolled ACT 25-75% range30-3433-3529-3230-3429-33
Ranked in top 10% of HS class82%90%63%94%73%
Ranked in top 25% of HS class96%100%88%100%91%
Percent of classes under 10 students8%32%15%18%17%
Percent of classes under 20 students84%58%71%71%80%
Percent of classes over 50 students2%4%0%0%0%

History

In October 1923, President James A. Blaisdell of Pomona College wrote to Ellen Browning Scripps describing a vision of educational excellence he had for the future Claremont Colleges:

I cannot but believe that we shall need here in the South [of California] a suburban educational institution of the range of Stanford. 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 on the 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. Such a development would be a new and wonderful contribution to American education. Now the thing which would assure this future institution to Southern California is land ... It is now or never. To save the needed land for educational use seems to me to guarantee to Southern California one of the great educational institutions of America. Other hands through the centuries will carry on the project and perfect it. But never again can there come so fundamental a service as this.[19][20]

Athletics

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps athletics teams from Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College and Scripps College compete as one team. Male athletic teams are called the Stags, and women's teams are called the Athenas.[21] Pomona College and Pitzer College compete together as Pomona-Pitzer. Their teams are called the Sagehens.[22] 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 year, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps ranked 4th nationally, while Pomona-Pitzer ranked 29th; they were the top two performers in the SCIAC.[23]

Club and intramural sports

In addition to the Stags/Athenas and the Sagehens, 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 won the Division II national championship in 2010.

The women's ultimate team reached Nationals in 2004, 2011, and 2013, 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.

The Claremont Colleges are referenced in Max Brooks's 2006 apocalyptic horror novel World War Z, in which the students at the colleges hold off 10,000 zombies by fortifying Scripps's walled campus. Brooks is an alumnus of Pitzer.

References

  1. ↑ James A. Blaisdell, the creator of the Claremont Colleges, declared in 1923 "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."
  2. ↑ "The Claremont Colleges". Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  3. ↑ "Ivy League Admissions Stats & Acceptance Rates, Class of 2020". Retrieved 2016-07-12.
  4. ↑ "About CUC". claremont.edu.
  5. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-08-13. Retrieved 2011-05-06. The Claremont Difference
  6. ↑ National Liberal Arts College Rankings U.S.News & World Report, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Top 25 Liberal Arts Colleges 2017".
  8. ↑ "2017 Best Small Colleges in America". Niche.
  9. ↑ U.S. News & World Report, 2014.
  10. ↑ "History of The Claremont Colleges". claremont.edu.
  11. ↑ "CMC CDS 2017" (PDF).
  12. ↑ "HMC CDS 2017" (PDF).
  13. ↑ "Pitzer CDS 2017" (PDF).
  14. ↑ "Pomona CDS 2017" (PDF).
  15. ↑ "Scripps CDS 2017" (PDF).
  16. ↑ "2017 Endowments" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-03-06. Retrieved 2018-01-30.
  17. ↑ "College Cost Calculator". CNN.
  18. ↑ Ding, Jaimie. "5Cs Release Class of 2022 Admissions Decisions". The Student Life.
  19. ↑ CUC Land Use Statement
  20. ↑ Robert J. Bernard. An Unfinished Dream: A Chronicle of the Group Plan of the Claremont Colleges. The Castle Press. 1982. pg. 702
  21. ↑ "CMS Quick Facts". prestosports.com.
  22. ↑ "The Athletic Program". Archived from the original on 2009-01-24.
  23. ↑ "2016-17 Learfield Directors' Cup Division III Final Standings" (PDF).
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