Featured College: Spelman College

By: Kimberly Elliott

With thirty-nine acres of historical
land in the heart of Atlanta, Georgia,
dating back to 1881, Spelman College
is part of the largest grouping of
historically Black Universities.
Spelman College is a private, indepen-
dent institution for women that offers
cross registration with its four partners,
also known as the Atlanta University
Center (AUC): Morehouse College,
Morehouse School of Medicine, Clark
Atlanta University, and Interdenominational Theological Center.


In the heart of Atlanta, Spelman offers great transportation options to
many of Atlanta's main attractions such as, Atlantic Station, Lenox Mall,
Little 5 Points, Georgia Dome, and more. It is in the midst of Atlanta's
most sociable atmospheres with the newly established Castleberry Arts
District, which offers great food, bars, and art galleries. Although
Spelman offers endless amounts of fun in the social scenery, they also
offer great opportunities for women interested in Liberal Arts.


Even though Spelman is a strict Liberal Arts school, there are a wide
variety of classes shared among the AUC institutions. The student-faculty
ratio is 11 to 1 with eighty percent of the teachers holding a PhD. Over
2100 students attend Spelman College with an admission of thirty-two
percent of its applicants. Spelman is conformed to giving their students
the attention they need from their teachers. Therefore, admissions into
Spelman are very competitive. "Not everyone gets the education that
Spelman gives us. It is truly one of a kind and their curriculum allows
you to graduate with way more than you expected to learn," says Spelman
student, Nicole Brown. Spelman is the first to offer a curriculum devoted
to women's studies on a Black college campus.


Spelman's one-of-a-kind education is
$20,218 for off-campus students and $
30,015 for on- campus students with
eighty-seven percent of their students
receiving financial aid. While Spelman
is a HBCU it admits students regardless
of race, ethnicity, color or national
origin. It is one of the six institutions
to have a relationship with the
National Science Foundation (NSF)
and the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA) as a Model
Institution for Excellence in undergraduate Science and Math education.


Spelman ranks among the top 75 Best Liberal Arts Colleges in America,
number 1 for social mobility and number 5 on Black Enterprises list for
the best colleges for African Americans. Spelman's graduation rate is
seventy-seven percent and they are committed to serving the community
with the Bonner Scholars Community Service Program. Spelman has
come far from its eleven students in the basement of the church, to one
of the most prestigious schools for African Americans and one of the
leading Liberal Arts schools.