21 Facts About Mills College

Mills College at Northeastern University is a private college in Oakland, California and part of Northeastern University's global university system.

Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was relocated to Oakland in 1871 and became the first women's college west of the Rockies.

In March 2021, amidst ongoing financial difficulties, Mills announced plans to transition away from being an independent, degree-granting college with the goal of becoming the Mills Institute.

In June 2021, Mills College announced that it would merge with co-ed, Boston-based Northeastern University.

Mills College was initially founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in the city of Benicia in 1852 under the leadership of Mary Atkins, a graduate of Oberlin College.

Related searches

In 1890, after serving for decades as principal, Susan Mills became the president of the college and held the position for 19 years.

In 1920, Mills College added graduate programs for women and men, granting its first master's degrees the following year.

In 1990, Mills became the first and only women's college in the US to reverse a decision to go coed.

In 2014, Mills became the first single-sex college in the U S to adopt an admission policy explicitly welcoming transgender students.

In 2017, Mills College declared a financial emergency, citing declining student enrollment and revenues, and laid off some tenured faculty.

In March 2021, one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, Mills announced that it would transition away from being an independent, degree-granting college with the goal of becoming the Mills Institute, a research institute.

Additional Mills College publications include The Walrus Literary Journal, the Womanist, A Women of Color Journal, and the 580 Split journal of arts and letters.

Mills College was a member of the Division III level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, primarily competing in the Coast to Coast Athletic Conference.

Mills College fielded six intercollegiate women's varsity sports teams: cross country, rowing, soccer, swimming, tennis and volleyball.

Music program at Mills College is noted for being at the forefront of experimental music study and composition.

Morton Subotnick, later a member of the faculty, received his master's degree from Mills College, studying composition with Leon Kirchner and Darius Milhaud.

Mills College is home to the Center for the Book which was established in 1989 to promote the cultural, literary, and aesthetic heritage of the book.

Mills College students have an opportunity to get involved in every aspect of the museum's work, including archival research, editing, photography, design, and installations.

Mills College Hall is a California Historical Landmark and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Morgan designed six buildings for the Mills campus, including El Campanil, believed to be the first freestanding bell tower on a United States college campus.

Ten on-campus living options are available at Mills College, including traditional residence halls, a housing cooperative, family housing, and apartment living.