Hillsdale College

The city of Hillsdale is home to one of the most distinctive colleges in the country. Hillsdale College was founded in 1844. It started in Spring Arbor and moved to its hilltop campus here in 1853. That makes it one of the oldest colleges in Michigan. From the very beginning it was unusual. The college calls its charter the first in the nation to forbid turning anyone away because of race, religion, or sex. It was also among the first American colleges to grant full four-year degrees to women. And it was a stronghold of the anti-slavery movement. Hundreds of its students fought for the Union in the Civil War.

These days Hillsdale is best known for fierce independence. It had a long fight with the federal government in the 1970s and ’80s. After that, the college decided to stop accepting any federal money, and later any state money too. So no student here uses government loans or grants. Instead it raises its own scholarship funds from donors across the country. It draws a national student body to this small town for a classical, Great Books–style education. The handsome campus is very much the heart of the city.