Wellesley College

Wellesley College International Student Insurance

Wellesley College, located in Wellesley, Massachusetts, was established in 1870. It’s a private women’s college and a member of the Seven Sisters schools. It opened its doors to students in 1875 with the goal of providing women with higher-education opportunities equal to those of men. Its curriculum expanded dramatically during the 1890s to offer courses in all major sciences; it was the first women’s college to install scientific labs on campus, and its physics lab was the second of its kind in the U.S. Today, Wellesley tops many lists of U.S. liberal arts colleges and is the highest-endowed women’s university in the world.

It enrolls more than 2,000 students and counting each year. The school colors are Wellesley Blue and Black, and its athletic nickname is the Blue. It offers more than 50 bachelor’s degrees as well as interdepartmental majors. 

On Campus

Noteworthy campus facilities include the Wellesley College Botanic Gardens and the Margaret C. Ferguson Greenhouses; the Whitin Observatory, which houses four separate telescopes; and a science center featuring molecular biology, cognitive learning, laser, electronics, and optics laboratories. The 500-acre campus allows for scenic views of Lake Waban and is also home to evergreen woodlands and open meadows. Finally, Wellesley partners with the Davis Museum, an art museum featuring paintings, sculptures, photographs, and more ranging from antiquity to the modern day.

The school is home to the Wellesley Centers for women, the largest academic, women-and-gender-focused research institute in the U.S. The centers are funded by several federal, state, and local government agencies. The centers employ about 35–50 Wellesley students and offer research internships. Its research and evaluation centers around six thematic areas: education and child care, economic security, mental health, youth and adolescent development, gender-based violence, and society and leadership.

Notable Alumni

Notable Wellesley College alumni include U.S. politician Hilary Rodham Clinton; journalists Diane Sawyer and Cokie Roberts; author Harriet Adams (who writes under the pen name of Carolyn Keene); screenwriter and director Nora Ephron; and former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

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