the college and the consortium

Small classes and accessible professors are hallmarks of a Pomona education.

The phrase “best of both worlds” has become a cliché, but at Pomona, it’s the simple truth. Our students have the advantages of a small school where class size averages 14 and professors teach every class, along with the opportunities offered by a larger university setting of more than 5,000 students. The founding member of The Claremont Colleges, Pomona is one of five undergraduate colleges and two graduate institutions that make up this unique consortium. Unlike other consortial arrangements, the campuses are contiguous, and a walk of only a few minutes will take you from one to another. Although each institution is autonomous, academic calendars and registration procedures are coordinated to make cross-enrollment easy.

Pomona students may supplement the College’s already comprehensive curriculum by taking classes at any of The Claremont Colleges, including some courses at Claremont Graduate University. With a total of approximately 2,200 courses available to them, students may choose from more than 230 English and literature courses, 140 mathematics courses or courses in any of 12 different languages.

Facilities -- such as Honnold-Mudd Library --shared by the Claremont Colleges allow Pomona students to attend a small college with big-school resources.

Intercollegiate majors are offered in Chicano/Latino, Black and Asian American studies. Though mathematics is not an intercollegiate area of study, the curriculum is coordinated by all of the colleges, giving students access to 40 mathematicians and 140 classes, including 100 upper-division or graduate-level classes, in what may be the most comprehensive program available at any undergraduate college.

In most cases, cross-enrollment in classes at another college is as simple as enrolling in classes at Pomona. Beginning with your second semester, until to the end of your sophomore year, you can cross enroll in one class per term. After that, you can take up to two courses per term at the other colleges, subject principally to the restrictions of your major. Because there is such a wealth of options on their home campus, Pomona students typically take only eight to 10 percent of their courses at the other colleges.

But an expanded catalog of classes isn’t the only plus. A 2-million volume library serves all of the campuses, and the broad range of speakers’ series, guest lecturers, art exhibits, plays and performances offered at the other colleges add immeasurably to the academic possibilities.

Joining Pomona as members of the Consortium are Claremont Graduate University, Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College, Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences, Pitzer College and Scripps College. Other institutions that are located in Claremont and more loosely affiliated with the Consortium are the Claremont School of Theology, the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity and the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden.