Thomas Jefferson statue in the Jefferson Memorial.

Hillsdale College

Founded in 1844, Hillsdale College is an independent institution of higher learning in Hillsdale, Michigan, dedicated to teaching the liberal arts. The College is convinced that these arts are the best preparation for meeting the challenges of modern life and that they offer to all people of all backgrounds not only an important body of knowledge, but also timeless truths about the human condition.

The College was established by men and women “grateful to God for the inestimable blessings resulting from the prevalence of civil and religious liberty and intelligent piety in the land” and who believed that “the diffusion of sound learning is essential to the perpetuity of these blessings.” As a nonsectarian Christian institution, Hillsdale College maintains “by precept and example” the immemorial teachings and practices of the Christian faith. Hillsdale was the first American college to prohibit in its charter any discrimination based on race, religion, or sex, and it became an early force for the abolition of slavery. Holding to its core policy of nondiscrimination, Hillsdale College rejects federally funded grants and loans and instead supports its students with privately funded grants, loans, and scholarships.

The College also considers itself a trustee of our Western philosophical and theological inheritance tracing to Athens and Jerusalem, a heritage finding its clearest expression in the American experiment of self-government under law. As part of its core curriculum, Hillsdale College requires each of its students to take a course on the United States Constitution.

Hillsdale continues to carry out its original mission today, both in the classroom and nationwide, through its many outreach programs around the country; its K-12 American classical education efforts, which help establish and support K-12 public charter and private schools; its online courses, which have been taken by more than three million people; and Imprimis, which reaches more than six million readers every month.

Exterior of the Kirby Center in Washington D.C.

Hillsdale in D.C.

Hillsdale College’s presence in Washington, D.C. extends the College’s educational mission to the nation’s capital by teaching and promoting the principles and practice of American constitutionalism. Hillsdale in D.C. seeks to inspire and form students, citizens, practitioners, and statesmen, who will restore America’s principles and revive self-government in the political life of our nation.

Since the late 1970s, the College has been sending its undergraduate students to study in Washington, D.C.  through the Washington-Hillsdale Internship Program. On September 17, 2010, the College opened a permanent facility in Washington, D.C.—the Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship—which hosts public lectures, educational seminars, and congressional briefings. The College has sponsored an annual Constitution Day dinner and conference since that time.

Hillsdale also sponsors the James Madison Fellows Program, an intellectual community for mid- to senior-level working professionals to engage in the study of constitutional principles and to consider seriously the actions necessary to perpetuate free government.

In order to extend further its formal teaching mission, Hillsdale College launched a new and unique graduate school of government in Washington, D.C. for the purpose of teaching politics and statecraft to young professionals working in Washington, D.C.