The Hillsdale Difference

Go to college, get a job. But what if you want more out of life than just a job? What if you want meaning, purpose, and fulfillment, in your work, your relationships, and every other area of life? What kind of education would you need for that kind of life? Today, the typical college experience is a narrow path - pick a major, focus your studies one specific field or profession, and at the end, you're ready for that one field or profession. At Hillsdale, we offer a different kind of education. A Classical Liberal Arts Education. Studying the liberal arts creates a foundation for a liberated life - a life that’s free and able to live well. Every student at Hillsdale spends their first 2 years together, immersed in this core curriculum, made up of the Humanities...the Social Sciences...and the Natural Sciences. You’ll still choose a major, but because of this core curriculum, that major will be built on a deep understanding of the nature of the world, and the nature of humanity. Practica

Imagine a place where you will be challenged by a core curriculum that explores classical ideas that are inescapably relevant; where professors believe heart and soul in the person you can become; where your faith is not relegated to the sidelines but can further develop; where you can compete, create, and cultivate your interests through athletics, fine arts, and a host of clubs and activities; where friendships form and endure as you journey together on this life-defining experience. This is what college is meant to be. This is Hillsdale. Featuring Hillsdale College students: Eric from Spokane, WA, Bilyana from Gabrovo, Bulgaria, Dominic from South Lyon, MI, Hannah from Ham Lake, MN, Jackie from Brentwood, TN, Benjamin from Baldwyn, MS, and Corinne from New Palestine, IN

Imagine a place where you will be challenged by a core curriculum that explores classical ideas that are inescapably relevant; where professors believe heart and soul in the person you can become; where your faith is not relegated to the sidelines but can further develop; where you can compete, create, and cultivate your interests through athletics, fine arts, and a host of clubs and activities; where friendships form and endure as you journey together on this life-defining experience. This is what college is meant to be. This is Hillsdale. Featuring Hillsdale College students: Eric from Spokane, WA, Bilyana from Gabrovo, Bulgaria, Dominic from South Lyon, MI, Hannah from Ham Lake, MN, Jackie from Brentwood, TN, Benjamin from Baldwyn, MS, and Corinne from New Palestine, IN

“Virtus tentamine gaudet,” translates “strength rejoices in the challenge." This truth, the motto of Hillsdale College, means that to be strong in virtue, we must welcome a challenge. These challenges shape who we are as we encounter them every day, both on the practice field and in the classroom. Hillsdale College was founded in 1844 with a purpose to "develop the minds and improve the hearts of its students," a reference to the moral and intellectual virtues. The driving purpose of athletics at Hillsdale College is to cultivate these virtues. Their practice, on the field of competition, inspires and elevates our minds and characters. We are Chargers – and we are strong.

We, the students of Hillsdale College, commit ourselves to diligent study and patient reflection. Having come to learn, we are proud to do so with integrity and will conduct ourselves with exemplary honor. As sacrifices past and present make possible our education, we too become stewards of this College for the generations yet to come. We pledge ourselves to the pursuit of truth, the love of the good, and the cultivation of beauty, for the sake of our minds and hearts and for an ennobled society. By so doing, we embrace the high calling of liberal education.

How do we measure “good”? Is it defined by the majority? Is it measured by self-satisfaction or personal fulfillment? The good of any thing is found in its ability to accomplish what it was created for…to realize its purpose for existence as intended by its maker. Only in this realization can something truly be called “good.” “The good” is possible only in the light of truth. Not truth as it is often defined today, by personal preference or popular consensus, but truth as it is…independent from opinions and emotions. And where goodness and truth exist, there you will find beauty. We were created for a purpose. That purpose is not left to chance or whim, but was determined by our Maker and written in our nature. Our purpose is to seek truth, in order to discover and to act on what is good and beautiful in this life.

What does it mean to be a liberal arts college? Some schools have lost sight of what this really means. Provost and professor of English Dr. David Whalen explains the purpose of the liberal arts. To learn more about Hillsdale College, visit