Located in Boston, this private women's college has a strong focus on female empowerment. Every year, it hosts the Simmons Leadership Conference, a nationally known gathering that has drawn such high-profile speakers as Hillary Clinton, Maya Angelou and Laverne Cox. In 2014, the school announced it was opening admission to anyone who self-identifies as a woman, regardless of biological sex. Simmons has about 1,700 students in its undergraduate programs and roughly 4,200 in its graduate programs. (Undergraduate degrees are only open to women, but the graduate programs are open to all).
The school has a student to faculty ratio of 9:1, and offers over 60 majors and programs. Health programs dominate at the undergrad level: Nursing is the most popular program by a wide margin, though exercise science, nutrition and biology also draw students. The school's Dorothea Lynde Dix Scholars program, named for the 19th century social activist, focuses on providing an undergraduate college experience to women aged 24 and older. Simmons also encourages students to practice social responsibility through over 40 service-learning initiatives and programs, which include partnerships with local schools and hospitals.
While Simmons falls in the middle of the pack when it comes to affordability, 97% of the student body receives some type of federal, state or college grant. Overall, the Money estimates the price of a degree comes out to about $148,000.
