Mount Holyoke College

Mount Holyoke College is a liberal arts college for women in South Hadley, Massachusetts, United States. It was the first member of the Seven Sisters colleges, and served as a model for some of the others. Mount Holyoke is part of the Pioneer Valley's Five College Consortium, along with Amherst College, Smith College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

The school was originally founded in 1837 by Mary Lyon as Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. Prior to founding Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, Mary Lyon founded Wheaton Female Seminary (now Wheaton College) in Norton, Massachusetts in 1834. Mount Holyoke received its collegiate charter in 1888 as Mount Holyoke Seminary and College and became Mount Holyoke College in 1893. Mount Holyoke's chapter of Phi Beta Kappa was established in 1905.

Mount Holyoke's buildings were designed between 1896 and 1960. It has a Donald Ross-designed 18-hole golf course, The Orchards, which served as host to the U.S. Women's Open in 2004. U.S. News & World Report lists Mount Holyoke as the 38th best liberal arts college in the United States in its 2013 rankings. Mount Holyoke was also ranked #1 in the nation for Best Classroom Experience in the Princeton Review 2010–2011 rankings. In 2011–2012, Mount Holyoke is one of the nation's top producers of Fulbright Scholars, ranking fourth among bachelor's institutions according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

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