Elmira College offers its students, in a supportive and collaborative environment, both liberal and professional education of sufficient breadth and depth to enable them to become more responsible and productive in society.
Achieving this mission depends on accomplishing the following College objectives:
Students at Elmira College will:
I. Develop and employ skills in communication and critical thinking;
II. Apply their skills in mathematics, and use information technology;
III. Achieve intellectual breadth while laying the foundation for life-long learning, by successfully completing one or more courses in the following areas:
A. the cultures of the United States, Europe, and the Non-Western world;
B. the arts;
C. the natural sciences, including laboratory experiences; and
D. the social-behavioral sciences;
IV. Give evidence of their ability to focus on specific topics of inquiry for a sustained period, by successfully completing intensive, sometimes cross-disciplinary and innovative studies during the Spring Term;
V. Exhibit their ability to interact effectively with others, by engaging in such activities as group participation (including participation in collaborative coursework, athletics, clubs and organizations, or committees) and leadership (including leadership in honor societies, teams, classes, student media or student government):
VI. Demonstrate their ability to contribute to the life of a community, by successfully completing experiences beyond the classroom such as community service, internships, and participation in residential living and in meaningful ceremonies traditions;
VII. Confirm their readiness for post-graduate study or professional careers, by completing a major of their choice from a range of the liberal arts and sciences and professionally oriented disciplines.
Elmira College is a coeducational private liberal arts college located in Elmira, in New York State's Southern Tier region.
The college is noted as the first college for women with a course of study and degree requirements equal to those at the nation's finest men's colleges. Elmira College is characterized in histories of higher education as "the mother of women's colleges." Elmira College became coeducational in all of its programs in 1969 and quickly achieved gender balance.
The college, founded in 1855, has an enrollment of about 1200 students. The school's colors, purple and gold, are seen literally everywhere throughout the traditional campus, consisting mainly of ivy-covered buildings of the Victorian and Collegiate Gothic architectural styles. The colors purple and gold come from both the banners of the women's suffrage movement and the iris, the college flower.
Offered are about thirty-five major areas of study, each ultimately leading to either a B.S. or B.A. degree upon a successful completion of undergraduate studies. Students attend two full terms in the fall and winter and then enroll in a 6-week, intensive "Term III" in the spring. This gives students a unique opportunity to study abroad, intern, or take classes not related to their majors so as to enrich the educational experience.
Elmira College has an extensive, Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) archive and is one of the only two centers for Mark Twain Studies in the world. A quaint study of his is located on campus. In it the ironic author, often credited as being the father of the American literature, wrote many of his most widely read novels: Life on the Mississippi, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Every four years the college perpetuates his legacy by hosting an international conference on the State of Mark Twain Studies.
Elmira College was first conceived by a group of men at a meeting on April 11, 1851 in Albany, New York. This group, which referred to itself as "Friends of Education" (12), had the intention of creating a college that would grant degrees to women; these degrees would be equal to the degrees given to men at the time. The chairman of the meeting was Reverend Issac N. Wyckoff, D.D., who had had previous experience in female education as a principal of a girls' school in New Brunswick. The group adopted a series of resolutions devoted to the equalization of women's education with that of men. The six members of this group chose to create a committee, of which they were all members, that would carry out their resolutions.
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Top States for Incoming Freshman
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| Percent of Students International: | 3% |
| On-Campus Housing Available: | Yes |
| Percent of Students Living On-Campus: | 75% |
| Freshman Students Required to Live on Campus: | No |
| Tuition & Fees (undergraduate) | Expenses | ||
Published Tuition and Fees: |
$ 28,500 | ||
Average Tuition for Full-Time Undergrads: |
$ 27,500 | ||
Required Fees for Full-Time Undergrads: |
$ 1,000 | ||
| Financial Aid | Avg. Amount Received | % of Students Receiving Aid | |
Federal Grants: |
$ 3,222 | 28% | |
State and Local Grants: |
$ 1,994 | 47% | |
Institutional Grants: |
$ 13,622 | 98% | |
Student Loans: |
$ 5,884 | 73% | |
Any Aid: |
98% |
| Acceptance Rate: | 77% (Selective) |
| Test Scores | |
| SAT Scores: | |
| % of Students Submitting SAT Scores: | 96% |
| Bottom 25th Percentile: | Verbal: 520, Math: 510 |
| Top 75th Percentile: | Verbal: 630, Math: 620 |
| ACT Scores: | |
| % of Students Submitting ACT Scores: | 27% |
| Bottom 25th Percentile: | Composite: 23, Verbal: 21, Math: 23 |
| Top 75th Percentile: | Composite: 27, Verbal: 28, Math: 28 |
| Application Fee: | $ 50.00 |
| Formal Demonstration of Competencies: | Not Required |
| High School Diploma or Equivalent: | Recommended |
| High School GPA: | Required |
| High School Rank: | Recommended |
| High School Record: | Required |
| Recommendations: | Required |
| TOEFL: | Recommended |
| Test Scores: | Required |
