Mills offers graduate degree and certificate programs to approximately 600 students on an intimate campus with a total student body of more than 1,500. Our graduate programs include: Studio Art, Computer Science, Dance, Education, English, Infant Mental Health, MBA, Music, Pre-Med, and Public Policy.

Mills advanced-degree candidates are accomplished students who are drawn by the outstanding reputation of our curriculum, faculty, and the intellectual environment of the campus itself. Graduate programs at Mills offer serious students an opportunity to delve intensely into their field of study, cross traditional disciplinary boundaries, and explore new ways of thinking.

At Mills, we value the diversity of people and ideas. Forty-three percent of our graduate population identify themselves as students of color.

back to top

Faculty
The Mills faculty is composed of an accomplished cadre of artists, educators, authors, business professionals, and scholars. At the heart of our graduate education is the interaction between these distinguished faculty members and talented students. In an intellectual environment dedicated to advanced study, graduate students work closely with accessible and engaged faculty to explore their field of study in the context of broader academic interests, a testament to our heritage as one of the top liberal arts colleges in the nation. Statistically, Mills faculty members are also unique. Seventy-two percent of our full-time faculty are women, while 30 percent are faculty of color. Ninety-one percent of the full-time faculty have their terminal degree.

back to top

Academic Environment
Amid the green rolling hills and century-old eucalyptus trees of the 135-acre Mills campus, graduate students find inspiration both in their work and in their environment. Each graduate program forms a community of students and faculty focused intensely on academic pursuits. Ideas, opinions, and minds are challenged in an open environment of academic excellence and collaboration. As a vital part of the San Francisco Bay Area, Mills is intricately connected to the community. Professors and students work in the neighboring cities and bring their experience and knowledge into the classroom. Faculty encourage students to get involved with the local artistic and scholarly scenes so that students connect with a broader community and expand their opportunities for intellectual and professional growth.

Thanks to the extraordinary reputation of Mills and its faculty, we also attract an amazing array of world-class speakers and performers to the campus. Due to the intentionally small size of these events, Mills graduate students have access to these dignitaries and often engage with them one-on-one before, during, and after events. In addition, Mills’ dedicated alumnae/i are an integral part of the life of the College, participating in activities and sharing their professional expertise. Since so many Mills graduates have gone on to success in their areas of study, this network and influence can be far reaching. It all adds up to a dynamic environment that is the signature of the Mills graduate experience.

back to top

Campus Resources
Mills students enjoy an educational environment enriched by a wide variety of exhibits, concerts, performances, and lectures that support intellectual exploration and growth. The physical environment of the campus itself provides a source of inspiration with historic cultural resources such as the Littlefield Concert Hall, the Center for Contemporary Music, and the Mills College Art Museum.

Students can also experience one-of-a-kind resources such as the Eucalyptus Press, the imprint of the Book Art Program at Mills, or the Children’s School, the first laboratory school founded west of the Mississippi. The Special Collections of the F. W. Olin Library contain more than 22,000 rare books and manuscripts, including a copy of Shakespeare's First Folio, a Mozart manuscript, and a leaf from a Gutenberg Bible. The Trefethen Aquatic Center and Haas Pavilion offer a wide variety of options for athletics, physical fitness, and recreation, while the campus Chapel provides a peaceful environment for spiritual reflection and renewal.

back to top

Graduate Housing
Living on campus is a valuable part of the Mills experience. Students can take advantage of on-campus programs and services while enjoying the convenience of lving on the beautiful, safe Mills College campus. To learn more about campus housing for graduate students, visit the Residential Options webpage.

back to top

History
Founded in 1852 as the Young Ladies’ Seminary in Benicia, California, Mills College boasts a rich history as a leader in women’s education. Mills was founded two years after California was admitted to statehood and the same year the city of Oakland was established. The University of California and Stanford had yet to exist, and newly prosperous miners, farmers, and merchants wanted to educate their daughters without sending them on the perilous journey to East Coast schools.

Missionaries Cyrus and Susan Mills bought the Seminary in 1865 for $5,000, renamed it Mills College, and moved it in 1871 to its current 135-acre oasis. At the time, Oakland was a bustling metropolis of about 10,000.

The student body quickly grew, with students of diverse faiths and backgrounds enrolled from many states and countries. In 1920, Mills launched its Graduate Division, offering programs to both women and men.

Over the decades, Mills "firsts" have been numerous: the first women′s college west of the Rockies (chartered 1885); the first laboratory school west of the Mississippi for aspiring teachers (1926); the first women’s college to offer a computer science major (1974) and a 4+1 MBA degree (2001); the first business school in the West for women (2005); and the first MFA program in book art and creative writing in the nation (2009).

Always a leader in the arts, Mills was among the first liberal arts colleges to offer a modern dance degree (1941), and it became the national center for modern dance outside New York City. The Center for Contemporary Music, dedicated in 1967, is a preeminent center for electronic music.

Many of the world’s foremost artists, politicians, and scholars have taught, lectured, and performed at Mills, including Isabel Allende, John Cage, Don Ed Hardy, Dolores Huerta, Darius Milhaud, Nancy Pelosi, Gertrude Stein, and Mark Twain.

Notable alumnae/i of the College include Jennifer Losch Bartlett, abstract artist; Renel Brooks-Moon, voice of the San Francisco Giants and the first African American woman to announce for a professional sports team; Trisha Brown, renowned dancer and one of the first female choreographers to be awarded a MacArthur Genius Award; Stephanie Mills, groundbreaking ecological activist and author; and Susan Perrine, developer of a revolutionary treatment for sickle cell anemia.

For 160 years, Mills has continued to be a draw to people interested in creativity, experimentation, leadership, and social justice—the hallmarks of a 21st-century Mills education.

back to top