The College The mission of Wellesley College is to provide an excellent liberal arts education for women who will make a difference in the world.
This diversity is made possible, in large part, by the College’s need-blind admission policy. Students are accepted without consideration of their ability to pay. Once admitted, those with demonstrated need receive financial aid through a variety of services. Henry Fowle Durant, Wellesley’s founder, was an impassioned believer in educational opportunity for women. His strong philosophy carries over to the present day. Throughout its 129-year history Wellesley has been one of the country’s pre-eminent liberal arts colleges, and a distinguished leader in the education of women.
Within this traditional liberal arts framework, the Wellesley curriculum is dynamic and responsive to social change and new fields of study. The dramatic expansion of information of the last decades has led to an increasingly interdisciplinary course of study. Single majors in traditional disciplines have been joined by double majors and specially designed interdisciplinary and interdepartmental majors. Some departments also offer minors.
The well-known Wellesley Centers for Women, composed of the Center for Research on Women and the Stone Center for Developmental Services and Studies, produce work of national importance about issues facing women in contemporary society. The Wellesley-MIT cross-registration program allows students to combine the strengths of both institutions while remaining in residence on their own campuses. Students can complement their Wellesley majors with additional MIT courses in a variety of subjects including architectural design, urban planning, linguistics, financial accounting, computer science, engineering, mathematics, and the sciences.
The Wellesley faculty is a community of recognized scholars. They include scientists, artists, and political and economic analysts. Dedicated to teaching, they bring a vast range of academic and professional interests to the College. Many members of the faculty live on or near the campus. They are committed to all aspects of life in the Wellesley community and are available to students outside of the classroom. There is one faculty member for every nine students. The average class size ranges from 17 to 20 students. A few popular introductory courses enroll more than 100, but these classes routinely break into small discussion groups under the direction of a faculty member. Seminars typically bring together 15 to 18 students and a professor to investigate clearly defined areas of interest. The low student-faculty ratio offers an opportunity for students to undertake individual work with faculty or honors projects and research.
Wellesley’s strength in the sciences dates to the nineteenth century, when the College’s physics laboratory was the second in the country (the first being MIT). The Science Center brings together all the science departments, including mathematics and computer science, in a contemporary setting that fosters interdisciplinary discussion and study. Laboratories are completely equipped for a wide variety of fields. The Center also includes an observatory and an extensive complex of greenhouses. Students in the arts find excellent facilities in the Jewett Arts Center and the Davis Museum and Cultural Center.
For many students, the lessons learned competing on the athletic field, publishing the Wellesley News, or participating in a Wellesley-sponsored summer internship in Washington, D.C. have lifelong impact. The College encourages self-expression through over 160 established student organizations, as well as any interest that a student may choose to pursue alone or with a group of friends. Wellesley also supports those students who investigate religious issues and thought. The Office of Religious and Spiritual Life offers religious programs in many faiths, including denominational services for those who wish to participate.
Each student who comes to Wellesley College joins an extended community of alumnae. Some of them have been outstanding scholars and researchers, others have been businesswomen and leaders in politics and social issues, still others have made important contributions to their communities through volunteer work. No matter how they have chosen to make their mark in the world, these women have proven that four years at Wellesley College is just a beginning.
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Wellesley is a college for the student who has high personal, intellectual,
and professional expectations. Beyond this common ground, there is
no typical Wellesley student. Students come from all over the world,
from different cultures and backgrounds, and they have prepared for
Wellesley at hundreds of different secondary schools. Through the
Davis Degree Program, women beyond the traditional college age, many
with families, are part of the student body working toward a Wellesley
degree. Women and men from other colleges and universities study
at Wellesley through various exchange programs. 
In some respects,
the liberal arts curriculum at Wellesley has changed little since
the College was founded. Though the structure of distribution
requirements has evolved, the requirement that each student should
be acquainted with the main fields of human interest has remained
a constant. The concept of the major – the opportunity for
each student to establish mastery in a single area through concentrated
study during her junior and senior years – has remained consistent
as well. The College is committed to this framework because it emphasizes
the essence of education: the ability to speak and write clearly,
the knowledge to manage quantitative data with ease, the confidence
to approach new material, and the capacity to make critical judgments.
These skills are essential – whatever the student chooses to
do with her life. 
One of the first
liberal arts colleges to establish a separate computer science
department and computer science major, Wellesley remains
at the forefront of technological development. Students and faculty
in all disciplines use the College’s academic computing facilities
in their courses and research. The Knapp Media and Technology Center
provides state-of-the-art technology for students in courses ranging
from multimedia language instruction to graphic arts. 
The Twelve College Exchange Program brings women and men from member
colleges to Wellesley for a semester or a year, and enables Wellesley
students to live and study on another campus. The College also offers
exchanges with nearby Brandeis University, Babson College, and Olin
College of Engineering; Spelman College, a Black liberal arts college
in Atlanta, Georgia; and Mills College in Oakland, California. In
addition, Wellesley students are encouraged to spend a semester or
a year abroad in programs at many institutions. Approximately 40%
of Wellesley College students elect to spend a semester or year abroad. 
Excellent academic
facilities support learning at Wellesley. Students have access
to virtually all the collections on campus through a
computerized library system totaling over 1.5 million items. The
holdings include more than 200 electronic databases; 11,000 electronic
journals; 22,000 electronic books; 7,000 films on VHS and DVD; and
7,000 music CDs. Among the special holdings are a world-renowned
Browning Collection, a Book Arts Collection, and a Rare Book Collection.
Interlibrary loans through the Boston Library Consortium augment
the College’s own holdings. 
Wellesley recognizes that classroom activities and studying are
only part of a college education. The residence hall system not only
provides a pleasant and comfortable place to live but seeks to integrate
academic and extracurricular life through educational programs. Residence
life is administered in several ways, ranging from residence halls
staffed by professional resident directors to student-run cooperatives. 
As a small community,
Wellesley’s quality of life depends
upon the involvement and commitment of each of its constituents.
For this reason, students participate in decision making in nearly
every aspect of College life. They serve, frequently as voting members,
on almost every major committee of the Board of Trustees, including
the Investment Committee, as well as the Academic Council, the Board
of Admission, and the Committee on Curriculum and Instruction. In
academic departments, they frequently participate in the curriculum
and faculty search committees. They also serve on committees that
set policy for residential life. 
Established in 1901 by student and faculty agreement, the Wellesley
College Government Association is the official organization of all
Wellesley students. Through Senate, its elected representative body,
College Government officers are elected each spring on a campus-wide
basis; Senate representatives are elected from each residence hall
and from the Davis Scholars and Wellesley off-campus students.
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