Claremont Colleges

The Claremont Colleges (known colloquially as the 7Cs) are a consortium of seven highly selective 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 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]