Kalamazoo College
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Selective and Renowned
Highly selective, nationally renowned, and globally oriented, Kalamazoo College is the home of the K-Plan, a personalized and integrated approach to the liberal arts and sciences. The K-Plan combines excellent academics, study abroad, independent scholarship, career development, and civic engagement in a flexible curriculum that allows students to make the most of their unique interests and gifts.
Hands-on teaching is integrated into every facet of the K experience. Students are pushed to get out of the classroom and connect their studies to real-world situations and projects, strengthening skills for post-graduation success.
Learn more at www.kzoo.edu.
Top 100
Included in U.S. News & World Report’s listing of top 100 best liberal arts colleges in the nation
Colleges that Change Lives
Kalamazoo College is recognized as one of 45 colleges that change lives
96%
Of full-time Kalamazoo faculty hold a Ph.D. or terminal degree in their field
Programs in High-Demand Fields
Economics & Business
Computer Science
3/2 Engineering Program
Community and Global Health (concentration)
Biosciences
Biology
Biological physics
Chemistry
Biochemistry
Neuroscience (concentration)
Law
Pre-Law
Power Skills
- Critical Thinking
- Collaboration
- Global Perspective
- Intercultural Competency
- Leadership
- Ethical Reflection
- Presentation/Persuasion
Experimental Education
Integrated into every facet of the K experience – from classes to clubs – hands-on teaching methods equip students with practical skills. This experiential approach to education enables students to connect their studies with real-world situations and projects. They learn by doing.
Senior Integrated Project (SIP)
All students engage in a Senior Integrated Project, an in-depth research or creative project in their senior year. SIP is a capstone experience, akin to a senior thesis, required of all students and showcases the critical thinking, communication, time management, and creative skills they have gained at K. While exact requirements differ by department – which does not have to be the department you are majoring in – all SIPs consist of original work or research, culminating in a report, performance, display or reflection.
Institutionally Funded Student Research Grants
The Kalamazoo College Office of the Provost administers privately funded grants to support faculty-led student research.
Heyl Scholarships
Scholarships for studies in the sciences and nursing. Kalamazoo College and Western Michigan University have a strong tradition of providing undergraduate students with mentored research where students work alongside faculty in the laboratory and field.
The Integrative Cultural Project (ICRP)
The ICRP is a component of the academic program of selected Kalamazoo-sponsored study abroad programs. The primary goal of the ICRP is the integration of students into local cultures, and the development of an ability to appreciate the cultural values around which local people organize their daily tasks.
Significant Partnerships
Current Community Partners:
- AACORN Farm
- Building Blocks Kalamazoo
- Kalamazoo Nature Center Fair Food Matters
- City of Kalamazoo
- Community Advocates for Parents and Children (CAPS)
- Communities in Schools of Kalamazoo (CIS)
- Discover Kalamazoo
- El Concilio
- East Side Youth Strong EASEL
- Farmworker Legal Services
- Five Senses Gardens
- Foundation for Excellence
- Goodwill Adult Literacy Program
- Helen Fox Foundation
- Interfaith Homes Neighborhood Network Center
- Kalamazoo County ID
- Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes
- Kalamazoo Parks and Recreation
- Kalamazoo Promise
- Kalamazoo Public Schools
- Kalamazoo Nature Center
- KC Ready 4s
- KRESA
- 9th Circuit Court Drug Treatment Court Programs
- Refugee Outreach Collective (ROC)
- Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC)
- Peacehouse
- People’s Food Co-op/Farmers Market
- Planned Parenthood of Southwest Michigan
- Read and Write Kalamazoo (RAWK)
- Society for History and Racial Equity (SHARE)
- YWCA
Centers of Excellence/Research
Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership (ACSJL)
The ACSJL is an initiative of Kalamazoo College whose mission is to develop and sustain leaders in human rights and social justice through education and capacity-building.
Environmental Stewardship Center
The Center infuses sustainability and environmental themes across the curriculum, increases opportunities for students to conduct mentored research and community programming, and better utilizes the Lillian Anderson Arboretum as a learning lab for the liberal arts.
Center for Civic Engagement (CCE)
Affirming the central goals of the College, the CCE engages students, faculty, and community members in sustained partnerships that foster collaborative learning and civic participation in a diverse, democratic society.
Center for Career and Professional Development (CCPD)
The CCPD helps students make informed career decisions, no matter what stage of the process they’re in.
The Intercultural Center
This Center is open to all students, acts as a gathering place–particularly for those who have faced marginalization, and supports broader intercultural dialogue on campus.
Regina Stevens-Truss, Chemistry, department co-chair
Bruce Mills, English
Timothy E. Moffit, Economics
Jan Tobochnik, Physics
Ivett López Malagamba, Spanish, department chair
Stephen Oloo, Mathematics
Sandino Vargas-Perez, Computer Science
Leihua Weng, Chinese
- Founded in 1833, Kalamazoo College is among the 100 oldest institutions in the country
- Kalamazoo College is a member of Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association, the oldest collegiate athletics conference in the country
- K is nationally known for the K-Plan
- More than $170,000+ in stipends was awarded to K students for participation in internships for summer 2023
- Kalamazoo College has the second highest four- and six-year graduation rates in the State of Michigan as of 2021, based on publicly available data released by The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).
- K College was named one of the Colleges That Change Lives, a book by Loren Pope, higher education expert and former New York Times education editor, that describes a group of 44 dynamic colleges that excel at developing potential, values and initiative, and provide the foundation for success beyond college.
- K was included in the 2023 Fiske Guide to Colleges.
- Kalamazoo College ranks in the top two percent among all U.S. colleges and universities surveyed for the percentage of students ultimately earning a doctorate, according to the National Science Foundation.
- Kalamazoo College has been a top producer for Fulbright in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
- In 2024, Money Magazine rated K with 4 out of 5 stars based on quality, affordability, and student outcomes.
- The Princeton Review includes K in their lists of The Best 389 Colleges, Best Value Colleges, and ranks K 16th in best private schools for making an impact.
- The Wall Street Journal/College Pulse ranking placed K among the 400 best colleges in the country and in the Top 10 Liberal Arts Colleges in the Midwest.
- 14 of the College’s 14 athletics teams received the MIAA GPA Award and 188 of K’s athletes are on the MIAA academic honor roll.
Kalamazoo students come from around the world and around the country, bringing with them a wide array of identities and experiences. K is committed to providing a welcoming, safe and supportive environment for people of different backgrounds and perspectives as well as fostering a campus climate and academic experience in which our diverse community of learners can thrive.
Intercultural Student Life (ISL)
ISL organizes programs, initiatives, and dialogues that center on the lived experiences and voices of minoritized students. Kalamazoo College is a global and pluralistic campus, and ISL works with a range of stakeholders to foster a network of support that ensures all students can grow (academically, socially, and personally) through meaningful engagement.
31 percent of Kalamazoo College’s student body are domestic students of color.
Academics
- Floyd Wilcox, Class of 1910, president of Shimer College from 1930-35
- Ken Elzinga ’63, economics professor at University of Virginia
- Robert Shiller ’67, Nobel Prize winner and economist
Arts and Entertainment
- Fern Ball Persons ’31, actress and radio actress
- Paul Eads ’73, Emmy-winning television producer
- Vincent Liff ’73, New York casting director
- Vic Braden ’77, tennis professional
- Holly Hughes ’77, performance artist and GLAAD media award winner
- Lisa Kron ’83, Tony award-winning actress and playwright
- Julie Mehretu ’92, contemporary artist and recipient of the MacArthur Genius Grant
- Selma Blair ’94, actress
- Jordan Klepper ’01, actor, comedian, and political commentator
- Joe Tracz ’04, playwright and screenwriter
- Steven Yeun ’05, Oscar-nominated actor
- Quincy Isaiah ’17, actor
Business, Finance, and Development
- Peter Tippet ’75, developer of the first anti-virus software, now named Norton AntiVirus
- Larry Bell ’80, founder of Bell’s Brewery
- Jon Stryker ’82, architect, philanthropist and founder of the Arcus Foundation
- David Higdon ’83, global head of communications, Esports at Riot Games
- Mark Spitznagel ’93, founder, owner and chief investment officer of Universa Investments
- Mike McFall ’93, co-founder and co-CEO of Biggby Coffee
Law, Government, and Politics
- Chokwe Lumumba ’69, lawyer, civil rights activist and mayor of Jackson, Mississippi
- Alexander Lipsey ’72, judge, 9th Circuit Court of Michigan, and former Michigan House of Representatives member
- Martha Campbell ’72, former U.S. Ambassador to the Marshall Islands
- Gerald Rosen ’73, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- Myra Selby ’77, Indiana Supreme Court justice
- Carolyn DeWitt ’04, president and executive director at Rock the Vote
- Darrin Camilleri ’14, former member of Michigan House of Representatives and current member of Michigan Senate
Public Health and Medicine
- John Sarno ’44, doctor known for his book Healing Back Pain
- Bruce Benton ’64, Led two onchocerciasis control programs at the World Bank
- Harold Phillips ’88, Senior HIV advisor in the U.S. Department of Health
- Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian ’99 (MD, MPH FIDSA), epidemiologist and chief executive medical officer for the State of Michigan
Writers and Journalists
- Rufus Perry, Class of 1861, Baptist minister, journalist and activist
- Nagai Kafu, K student from 1904-05, Japanese author
Maynard Owen Williams, Class of 1910, National Geographic correspondent - Diane Seuss ’78, poet, Pulitzer Prize winner and K professor emerita
- David France ’81, investigative journalist, author and Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker
- Lila Lazarus ’84, Emmy award-winning journalist, producer and motivational speaker
- Mark Crilley ’88, artist, author and illustrator of comic books/manga
- Teju Cole ’96, Nigerian-American writer, photographer and art historian
Each year, the Center for Career and Professional Development gathers data from graduating seniors through the College’s First Destination Survey. For the class of 2019, 92% were employed, in graduate school, in the military, or engaged in a gap/service year within six months of graduation.