Swarthmore College is a private liberal arts college in Swarthmore, PA, located 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia. Founded in 1864 by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeducational colleges in the United States. Offering more than 600 courses each year in 40+  areas of study, Swarthmore College gives students the knowledge, insight, skills, and experience to become leaders for the common good.

Hands-on learning

Unlike most other liberal arts colleges, Swarthmore also offers an undergraduate engineering program. The Engineering Department and its students provide to the College community a unique perspective that integrates technical and nontechnical factors in the design of solutions to multifaceted problems.

Swarthmore’s distinctive Honors Program embodies intellectual self-direction, characterized by deep student-faculty collaboration and exams given by leaders in their fields from around the world.

Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility

The Eugene M. Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility facilitates Swarthmore College’s commitment to intellectual rigor, ethical engagement, and social responsibility by connecting curriculum, campus, and community through engaged scholarship and collaborative action.

Signature programs of the Center include a rotating visiting professorship that brings to campus activists or academics committed to social justice, civil liberties, human rights, and democracy for teaching and community interaction; grant programs that support the pursuit of projects, research, and internships; and faculty grants to support engaged scholarship.

A leader in sustainability

Swarthmore College has a long history of honoring the natural environment and working to protect both it and the people who depend on it. From the founding of Earthlust, the College’s oldest environmental student group, in 1990 to the signing of the American Colleges and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment in 2010, stewardship of the Earth’s resources is an important part of Swarthmore’s legacy and identity.

Ongoing environmental sustainability work builds on the Quaker legacy of shared responsibility, social justice, and resource stewardship. Swarthmore strives to be a leader in sustainability among institutions of higher education, spearheading novel programs and demonstrating the value of collaborative, deliberate planning, and community capacity-building.

Opportunities in Philadelphia

Philadelphia is 20 minutes from campus by train or a short ride by car. Swarthmore provides opportunities to connect students to resources in Philadelphia to increase academic and career aspirations. Among them, the Early Novels Database collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania and Bryn Mawr College, the Education in Our Barrios project with North and South Philadelphia schools, and the Serenity Soular collaboration with Serenity House to provide solar power to North Philly.

Join us in welcoming Swarthmore College to the CUMU membership.