is a private liberal arts college for black women located on a 39-acre campus in Atlanta, Georgia. The campus is located 5 minutes west of downtown Atlanta, making IT easily accessible for students.

Spelman College was founded in the basement of a Baptist church as Atlanta Baptist Female seminary in 1881 by Sophia B. Packard and Harriet L. Giles. The first graduates were awarded high school diplomas. The school would later be named Spelman Seminary, for Laura Spelman Rockefeller and her parents Harvey Buel and Lucy Henry Spelman, all longtime activists in the antislavery movement. In 1924, the school adopted its current name to more accurately reflect the education in which it provided women.

Spelman College was ranked by U.S. News and World Report as one of the 75 best liberal arts colleges in the country in 2009. The school was also ranked number one for social mobility by Washington Monthly and Black Enterprise Magazine listed Spelman College as number five in the best colleges for African Americans.

More than 2,100 students attend Spelman College each year. They hail from over 40 states and 15 foreign countries. Spelman College awards Bachelor of Art degrees in art, child development, comparative women's studies, drama, economics, English, French, history, human services, independent major, mathematics, music, philosophy, political science, psychology, religion, Spanish, sociology, and anthropology. Bachelor of Science degrees are awarded in biochemistry, biology, chemistry, computer and Information sciences, engineering/dual degree, mathematics, environmental science and physics.

Spelman College encourages students to seek multicultural experiences. To that end, Spelman College offers students study abroad programs as well as opportunities to study at college campuses in other states through the Domestic Exchange Program. One of the opportunities, for artists, is to study at the Spelman College Summer Art Colony on the Caribbean Coast of the Republic of Panama.

Quick Facts:

More than 80 percent of the faculty at Spelman College holds a doctorate or other terminal degree in their field.

The student to teach ratio at Spelman College is 11:1.

More than 85 percent of Spelman College's students receive some form of financial aid.

The Women's Resource Center on the Spelman College campus is one of the first centers on a black college campus centers that explores women's studies.

John D. Rockefeller was one of the first contributors to the school, he pledged $250 to co-founder Harriet L. Giles one year after the school opened in the basement of a Baptist church.

This school profile has been compiled and updated by The CollegeBound Network. The school is not affiliated with The CollegeBound Network and shall not be considered a sponsor of this program.