The Basics

Mission: Educating students in spirit, mind, and body for leadership in service to others (we call it our Humanics philosophy)

President: Mary-Beth A. Cooper, PhD, DM

Founded: 1885

Mary-beth Cooper with students after Humanics in Action Day
Two students raking leaves during Humanics in Action Day 2016
Facts & Figures
  • 120,000+ hours of community service done by students annually
  • 40+ student organizations and clubs
  • 87 percent of students like us so much, they stay from their first to second year (compared to 71 percent at other private colleges and 70 percent for public colleges)
  • 22 students is our average class size
  • 69 percent of our students graduate in four years (compared to 40 percent at other private colleges and 24 percent for public colleges)
Students enjoying lunch in the Student Union
Students
  • 2,228 undergraduate
  • 1,018 graduate
  • 1,020 non-traditional adult students at regional campuses in seven states
  • 20 percent of students self-identify as a student of color
  • 2 percent international students
  • 33 states represented
  • 21 countries represented
  • 85 percent of students live on campus (with 96 percent of first-year students living on campus)
Campus Union
Our Campuses
Tennis player
31%
of student population are student-athletes
Springfield College women's gymnastics
26
Division III teams
11
club sports
Springfield College women's volleyball team in a huddle
NEWMAC
New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference
Men's soccer on the Irv Schmidt Sports Complex
Springfield College color scheme
School Colors: Maroon and White
Alumni Hall during a sunset
School Nickname: Pride
Springfield College mascot, Spirit the Majestic Lion
School Mascot: Spirit the Majestic Lion

Check Us Out

  • Springfield College is ranked 25—up two spots from last year, and 42 sports from 2011—in the first tier in the category of Best Regional Universities – North by U.S.News & World Report.
  • We’ve been noted as a Best Value institution by U.S.News & World Report.
  • Our graduation rates for our student-athletes are higher than those of our peer schools, putting us at 94 percent and similar schools at 87 percent, according to research done by the NCAA. 
  • Our post-graduation survey found that 96 percent of 2016-17 bachelor degree recipients were either employed or enrolled in graduate school. Our placement rate is 12 percent higher than the national average for schools like us and, on average, higher than other colleges and universities in New England. We’re pretty excited about that, and we know our graduates are, too.
  • Springfield College Athletics finished 44th nationally in the final overall standings of the 2015-16 Division III Learfield Sports Directors' Cup, which marked the ninth-consecutive year that the Pride finished ranked in the top 10 percent of the 444 Division III athletic programs in the country.
  • We received the 2016 Presidential Award in the education category of the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. This honor is the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning, and civic engagement.
  • Our alumni go on to do big things. From WWE Superstar John Cena to inventor of the game of basketball James Naimsith, we're proud of our graduates.

James Naismith

James Naismith invented the game of basketball at Springfield College in 1891 when he was a graduate student and instructor at the College, which was then known as the International YMCA Training School.

William G. Morgan

William G. Morgan, an 1894 graduate of Springfield College, then known as the International YMCA Training School, invented the game of volleyball in 1896 in nearby Holyoke, Mass., when he was serving as the physical director of the Holyoke YMCA.

Robert Roberts

Robert Roberts, an employee of Springfield College in 1887 while it was still known as the School for Christian Workers, was the individual who coined the phrase “body building” while authoring books on weight lifting, exercise, and bodybuilding.

David Allen Reed

David Allen Reed founded Springfield College in 1885. A Congregationalist minister who assisted evangelist and publisher Dwight Moody in religious revivals, Reed founded the tuition-free School for Christian Workers, at Winchester Square in Springfield, Mass., in 1885. The young minister was elected president and led the institution from 1885 to 1891. The school was dedicated to the training of Sunday School teachers, and included a Young Men’s Christian Association Department. Reed raised the funds to launch the school with its own building and, according to YMCA historian Howard Hopkins, “maintained it against great odds through its pioneer years.” Reed chose Robert Ross McBurney, who had strong YMCA connections, as vice president, and appointed Moody to the board.

Our Five Schools
Arts, Sciences, and Professional Studies
Health, Physical Education, and Recreation
Health Sciences and Rehabilitation Studies
Professional and Continuing Studies
Social Work