Fast Facts
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- Springfield College has advanced into the Top 20 in its category in the 2020 US News Best Colleges rankings. In the “Best Regional Universities – North” region, Springfield College is ranked 19th.
- 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 98 percent of 2018-19 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.
