Founded in 1908 through the estate of Oregon pioneers Simeon and Amanda Reed, Reed College is an independent private liberal arts college located in Portland, Oregon. Spanning a tranquil 116-acre campus in East Portland centered around Tudor Gothic architecture and the Reed Canyon wetland preserve, Reed is globally famous for its mandatory freshman Humanities seminar, senior thesis requirement, and high doctoral placement rates. You can examine its founding charter, progressive academic philosophy, and institutional growth through the Reed College Wikipedia historical entry.
When you study at Reed, you enter an intellectually intense, unweighted grading environment centered on deep textual analysis, laboratory experimentation, and independent inquiry. Living in Portland places you minutes away from downtown bookstores, coffee houses, and mountain hiking corridors.
Premier Academic Programs
Reed offers 40 undergraduate majors across natural sciences, humanities, social sciences, and fine arts:
- Department of Physics: Consistently ranks among top national undergraduate producers of future doctorate recipients in physical sciences. Explore academic programs on the Reed Academic Programs portal.
- Department of Chemistry: Operates the nation's only undergraduate research reactor, providing hands-on nuclear chemistry experience.
- Department of History: Focuses on global public history, archival research, and interdisciplinary historical analysis.
- Department of English: Renowned for intensive literary criticism, creative writing, and classical textual studies.
- Department of Psychology: Delivers hands-on research in cognitive neuroscience, animal behavior, and developmental psychology.
"Humanitas, Veritas, Pietas, translated from Latin as Humanity, Truth, Piety, serves as Reed College's official motto."
Campus Culture and Mascot
Your daily student experience centers on the Eliot Hall quadrangle, the Hauser Library, and the cross-canyon land bridge. School spirit revolves around the unofficial Doyle Owl tradition, a circulating concrete owl statue fought over by student houses, alongside the Gryphon insignia. You can read about spirit traditions and student activities on the official Reed College Athletics and Student Life portal. Participating in Renn Fayre celebrations, studying inside the nuclear reactor facility, and joining over 100 student clubs creates a close-knit campus culture.
Research Infrastructure and Nuclear Reactor Science
Reed operates an active scientific research framework highlighted by unique nuclear physics facilities:
- Reed Reactor Facility (RRF): TRIGA Mark I nuclear research reactor operated entirely by undergraduate students licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
- Reed Canyon Restoration Project: 28-acre urban wetland laboratory used for field research in salmon restoration, hydrology, and native ecology. Learn more via Reed Research Operations.
- Special Collections Archives: Houses rare manuscript collections in early printing history and Pacific Northwest history.
Notable Alumni Legacy
You walk in the footsteps of tech icons, Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners, and Wikipedia founders, including:
- Steve Jobs: Co-founder of Apple Inc. who attended Reed College and credited Reed's calligraphy classes as inspiration for typography design on the Mac.
- Gary Snyder: Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and environmental essayist who earned his degree in literature and anthropology at Reed.
- Larry Sanger: Co-founder of Wikipedia who earned his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy at Reed College.
- Barbara Ehrenreich: Acclaimed author and journalist who earned her degree in physics at Reed.
Reed College meets 100 percent of demonstrated financial need for all admitted undergraduate students through grant packages without loans. Review complete admission standards and application steps on the official Reed Admissions portal.