Swarthmore College

Swarthmore College, founded in 1864, is currently the 17th ranked school in the United States. Just outside Philadelphia, PA in Swarthmore, the college is a private not-for-profit with 1,630 undergraduates, but also offers Master’s degrees as well.

A liberal arts college, Swarthmore was one of the first coeducational schools in the country. Organized by Quakers from three nearby cities, many of the founders were prominent in abolitionist, women’s rights, and several other social movements. The college would be a part of several historical moments throughout history including the graduation of Helen Magill, who would be the first woman to obtain a Ph.D. in Philosophy, as well as helping in the formation of football in its early days.

The college’s motto is “Mind the Light,” with a mascot of a phoenix and colors garnet and gray. Swarthmore has a number of prestigious alumni including five Nobel Prize winners, 11 MacArthur Foundation fellows, and many top names in their fields. Alice Paul the founder of the National Women’s Party, Nancy Roman the mother of the Hubble telescope, and Isabel Briggs Myers of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assessment are all well known graduates of the school.

Today, Swarthmore College is a part of the Tri-College Consortium, made up of Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr, and Haverford, as well as the Quaker Consortium with the University of Pennsylvania. Thanks to these connections, students of Swarthmore may take courses at any of the four schools.