Scripps College facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Scripps College

Motto	Incipit Vita Nova (Latin)
Motto in English	"Here begins new life"
Type	Private liberal arts women's college
Established	1926; 99 years ago (1926)
Academic affiliations	Claremont Colleges NAICU CLAC Annapolis Group
Endowment	$460.6 million (2022)
Budget	$83 million
President	Amy Marcus-Newhall
Academic staff	138 (100 full-time) (2023)
Students	1,103 (2023)
Undergraduates	1,082 (2023)
Postgraduates	21 (2023)
Location	Claremont, California , U.S. 34°6′13″N 117°42′38″W / 34.10361°N 117.71056°W / 34.10361; -117.71056
Campus	Suburban, 32 acres (12.9 ha)
Colors	Green and white
Nickname	Stags (men) / Athenas (women)
Sporting affiliations	NCAA Division III – SCIAC
Mascot	La Semeuse ("she who sows")

Scripps College is a private college for women in Claremont, California. It focuses on a type of education called "liberal arts," which means students learn about many different subjects like humanities, sciences, and arts.

The college was started in 1926 and is part of a group of colleges called the Claremont Colleges. A kind lady named Ellen Browning Scripps, who was a journalist and helped many good causes, gave the money to start it.

Scripps College is a four-year school for undergraduate students. In 2020, about 958 students were enrolled. The campus is 32 acres big and was designed in a beautiful Spanish Colonial Revival style. It's even listed on the National Register of Historic Places because of its special design.

Scripps is known as a top women's college on the West Coast of the United States. Many of its students win special scholarships like the Fulbright. Athletes from Scripps join with other colleges to compete in sports as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags and Athenas team.

History of Scripps College

How Scripps College Began

In 1908, Ellen Browning Scripps visited Pomona College in Claremont. She was a generous person who cared a lot about education and women's rights. She met the president of Pomona College, James A. Blaisdell, and stayed in touch with him.

Later, when more girls wanted to go to Pomona College, Mr. Blaisdell asked Ms. Scripps for help to create a "Woman's Campus." Ms. Scripps agreed and bought land in Claremont. She helped build new dorms for what became "Scripps College for Women." She believed a college should help students "think clearly and independently" and "live confidently, courageously, and hopefully."

Ms. Scripps didn't want the college named after her at first. But Mr. Blaisdell convinced her that her name would help the college become well-known.

The creation of Scripps College started a new way of organizing colleges in Claremont, similar to the Oxford Colleges in England. This idea became famous, and Ms. Scripps was even featured on the cover of Time magazine for it!

Construction of Toll Hall around 1927

Scripps College officially opened in 1926. The first dorm, Toll Hall, was built in 1927. Ernest J. Jaqua became the first president. Other buildings like Grace Scripps Clark Hall, Balch Academic Hall, and Browning Residence Hall were built soon after. Even though different people designed them, they all had a special "Mediterranean" look.

Ms. Scripps was 89 years old when she founded the college. She wanted it to be a place where women could prepare for careers and grow as people. She imagined a campus where buildings and gardens worked together beautifully.

Changes Over Time

Over the years, Scripps College has changed. It moved away from being just a "finishing school," which was a place where young women learned social skills.

In 1968, students protested to save a group of olive trees from being cut down for a new building. They succeeded, and the trees are still there today.

In 2000, the college opened a central dining hall called Malott Commons. Before that, students ate in their dorms.

In 2014, Scripps College began welcoming transgender women, making sure all women could be part of its community.

Exploring the Campus

The Scripps College Rose Garden

Scripps College is often called one of America's most beautiful college campuses. It has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1984. Many groups, like the Princeton Review and Forbes, have also said it's one of the prettiest campuses in the U.S.

The campus was designed by Gordon Kaufmann in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. This style uses elements from Spanish architecture, like red tile roofs and arched doorways. The original plan from 1926 has been kept, with lovely views connecting different areas. The gardens and landscaping were planned by Edward Huntsman-Trout, and his ideas are still followed today.

The campus has fun outdoor features. There's a rose garden where people can pick flowers. There are also fruit trees with oranges, grapefruits, pomegranates, and more that students can pick. Scripps even harvests olives from its trees and makes award-winning olive oil!

Scripps shares some facilities with the other Claremont Colleges. For example, it shares the Keck Science Center with Pitzer College. The colleges also share the Robert J. Bernard Field Station, which is a natural area for studying plants and animals.

• Courtyards at Scripps
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  Eucalyptus Court in Balch Hall (view as a 360° interactive panorama)

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  Sycamore Court in Balch Hall (view as a 360° interactive panorama)

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  Star Court in Toll Hall (view as a 360° interactive panorama)

Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery

Scripps College has its own art museum called the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery. It has a huge collection of 14,000 art pieces, some as old as 3,000 years! These artworks are used in classes, shown in exhibitions on campus, and even loaned to other museums.

The collection includes works by famous American artists like Andy Warhol, Ansel Adams, and Mary Cassatt. There's also a large collection of paintings by a Scripps professor named Millard Sheets and many Japanese woodblock prints.

Margaret Fowler Garden

The Margaret Fowler Garden
(view as a 360° interactive panorama)

The Margaret Fowler Garden is a beautiful walled garden on campus. It was designed to look like a European medieval garden. It has a sculpture called "Eternal Primitive" by Albert Stewart, a central pool, and lovely walkways.

On one wall of the garden, there are murals by Alfredo Ramos Martínez. He started painting "The Flower Vendors" in 1945, but he passed away before finishing it. In 1994, money was given to protect and preserve the mural.

Caring for the Environment

Scripps' Elm Tree Lawn, replanted in 2008, features Princeton elms.

Scripps College works hard to be environmentally friendly. They save energy by using a new energy management system and design water systems to reduce waste. They also changed "Alumnae Field" to a natural surface to save water.

To reduce trash, Scripps uses smaller trash bins and makes "to-go" food containers recyclable. For cleaner air, maintenance staff use electric tools instead of gas-powered ones. There's also a program for students and staff to share rides.

In 2011, Scripps earned a B− on a report card for college sustainability. This shows they are doing a good job with student involvement, transportation, food and recycling, and water programs.

How Scripps College is Run

Scripps College is run by a group called the board of trustees. They are in charge of making sure the college stays strong for a long time.

As of November 2023, the college has a special fund called an endowment of $478 million. This money helps support the college's programs and students.

The college's motto is "Incipit Vita Nova," which means "Here Begins New Life." It comes from a famous poem by Dante Alighieri.

Learning at Scripps College

Scripps' Garrison Theater is one of the largest performance spaces at the Claremont Colleges, and frequently hosts talks by distinguished speakers.

Scripps is part of the Claremont Colleges, often called the "5Cs." Students from Scripps, Claremont McKenna College, Pomona College, Pitzer College, and Harvey Mudd College often hang out together. They also share dining halls, libraries, and other facilities. All these colleges, plus two graduate schools, are part of the Claremont University Consortium.

Scripps students can take classes or even major in subjects at any of the other undergraduate Claremont Colleges. Classes at Scripps are usually small, with about 16 students. This means there's a good student-to-teacher ratio of 10:1. All classes are taught by professors.

Scripps focuses on a broad education in the humanities, along with strong training in specific subjects. Students need to take classes in math, arts, sciences, social sciences, foreign language, women's/gender studies, and race/ethnic studies. First-year students also take a writing class. Before graduating, every student must complete a senior project or paper.

In 2022, the most popular majors for graduates were:

• Political Science and Government
• Psychology
• Biology
• English Language and Literature
• Environmental Science
• Neuroscience
• Mass Communication/Media Studies
• Economics

A special part of learning at Scripps is the Core Curriculum in Interdisciplinary Studies. This is a series of three classes that help students think deeply and question ideas. First-year students take Core I, which introduces big ideas. Core II seminars explore specific ideas, often taught by two professors from different subjects. Core III classes lead to individual projects, which can become a student's senior project.

College Rankings

Scripps is considered the top women's college in the American West.

In 2025, U.S. News & World Report ranked Scripps as the 44th best liberal arts college in the nation. It was also ranked the fifth best women's college. Forbes rated it 60th among 650 schools in 2019. Kiplinger's Personal Finance placed Scripps at 39th for best value liberal arts colleges in 2019. Washington Monthly ranked Scripps 83rd among liberal arts colleges in 2024 for its contributions to public good.

How to Get In

Admissions statistics
2019 entering classChange vs. 2014
Admit rate	32.0% ( +4.8)
Yield rate	29.2% ( −3.6)
Test scores middle 50%
SAT EBRW	673–740
SAT Math	660–750
ACT Composite	30–33
High school GPA†
Top 10%	77.8% ( −5.2)
Top 25%	97.8% ( +0.8)
Top 50%	100.0% ( no change)
†Among students whose school ranked

For the class that started in fall 2019, Scripps accepted about 32% of the students who applied.

Scripps College does not require students to take the SAT or ACT exams to apply. For students who did submit scores, the middle range for SAT reading and writing was 673–740, and for SAT math was 660–750. For the ACT, the middle range was 30–33. The average high school GPA for new students was 4.20.

Studying Abroad

More than 60% of Scripps students choose to study abroad. The college offers over 120 approved programs in 86 cities across 47 countries. Students can also do exchanges within the U.S. at colleges like Spelman College or have internships in places like Silicon Valley.

Student Life at Scripps

Seal Courtyard, with Malott Commons at left and the Motley Coffeehouse at right

As of 2019, there are 1109 students at Scripps. Most students live on campus.

Living on Campus

Browning and Dorsey residence halls

Scripps is a residential campus, meaning most students live there. There are nine dorms and on-campus apartments for students during all four years. In 2017, The Princeton Review ranked Scripps highly for its dorms (#5), beautiful campus (#12), and campus food (#13).

All dorms have students from different years living together, creating a shared community. Each dorm has between 70 and 120 residents.

In 2014, a generous person donated $10 million to help build a tenth dorm, which was named Nan Elizabeth Walsh Schow Hall.

Student Clubs and Groups

There are many registered clubs and organizations at Scripps. Students can also join clubs with students from the other Claremont Colleges. In total, there are almost 300 clubs across the 5Cs!

A popular spot for students is The Motley, a coffeehouse run by students. It's a great place to hang out and socialize.

Sports at Scripps

Scripps athletes team up with athletes from Claremont McKenna College and Harvey Mudd College to form the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags and Athenas teams. They compete in NCAA Division III sports in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Sports Achievements

For the 2023–2024 school year, the CMS sports program ranked 19th among all NCAA Division III programs. In 2016–17, the CMS golf team was ranked first among NCAA Division III teams by Golf Digest.

Women's Sports Teams

Axelrood Pool

Scripps athletes compete on 11 CMS women's teams:

• Basketball
• Cross Country
• Golf
• Lacrosse
• Soccer
• Softball
• Swimming and Diving
• Tennis
• Track and Field
• Volleyball
• Water Polo

Sports Rivals

The main sports rival for CMS is the team made up of Pomona College and Pitzer College, known as the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens.

Famous People Who Went to Scripps

Former U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords (Democrat from Arizona), who graduated in 1993

Images for kids

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  Balch Hall

See also

In Spanish: Scripps College para niños