Mills College

History

Mills was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary at Benicia in 1852. In 1865, missionaries Cyrus and Susan Mills purchased the seminary, and in 1871 they relocated it to a new campus in the East Bay foothills in Oakland. In 1889, Mills became the first college to grant Bachelor of Arts degrees to women west of the Mississippi River. In 1921, Mills granted its first master's degrees.

In 1990, with enrollment declining, trustees announced a plan to open Mills' undergraduate programs to men. Students mounted a vigorous protest in defense of its 138-year history as a women's college, attracting national news coverage and support from women's colleges across the United States. Later that same year, the trustees reversed their position and "reaffirmed Mills' commitment" to remain a single-sex undergraduate institution.

Academics

Mills was the first women's college to offer a degree in computer science, beginning in 1974.

The post-graduate program is co-educational, and is noted for being at the forefront of experimental music study and composition amongst major music schools. Steve Reich attended here, as well as a famous synthesizer designer.

Mills has recently added a new professional business school and is in the process of a feasibility study for a new law school.

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