College of Our Lady of the Elms, or Elms College for short is a Catholic liberal arts college in western Massachusetts. It was founded as a women's school, and while men have been admitted for almost 20 years, the student body still skews heavily female.
Nursing is by far the most popular of over 30 undergraduate majors, followed by social work, and education. About 80% of students graduate within six years, which Money finds is significantly higher than expected based on its student demographics. The vast majority of undergraduates receive financial aid from the college to help offset the cost of attendance. In 2025, the college eliminated tuition for Massachusetts students from households earning less than $85,000 a year.
Elms is a small school, with about 1,000 undergraduates, most of whom remain in Massachusetts after graduation. The campus is a couple of miles outside of the state capital of Springfield, and the college organizes discounted day trips to places like the Bronx Zoo, Boston, ski slopes and amusement parks. The school also arranges trips of a very different kind: On these service trips, students assist with community projects in places as disparate as Brooklyn, Jamaica and Honduras.
