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Hillsdale College is a private, independent, nonsectarian Christian institution of higher learning that offers a traditional, classical, liberal arts education with a rigorous core curriculum led by a dedicated teaching faculty. It was founded in 1844 by men and women who described themselves as "grateful to God for the inestimable blessings" resulting from civil and religious liberty and as "believing that the diffusion of sound learning is essential to the perpetuity of [those] blessings." The College has maintained institutional independence since its founding by refusing to accept government aid. Private support from a national constituency has enabled Hillsdale to continue its trusteeship of the intellectual and spiritual inheritance from the Western Tradition.

The undergraduate enrollment for Fall 2021 was 1,515—51 percent men and 49 percent women—from 49 states and 14 foreign countries. The freshman class entering in Fall 2021 had an average GPA of 3.93, ACT of 32, and SAT of 1420. All Hillsdale students sign an Honor Code encouraging self-government and committing them to honesty, duty, and respect. Students are housed in single-sex dormitories, fraternity and sorority houses, and off-campus houses. Each College residence hall is supervised by a resident director and resident advisers. Special student services provided by the College include career planning and placement counseling, academic advising and tutoring, and a health service staffed by a resident nurse, counselors, and visiting medical professionals.


Four national fraternities, three national sororities, a newspaper and radio station, and more than 100 other social, academic, spiritual, and service organizations provide Hillsdale students with diverse cocurricular opportunities. A resident drama troupe and dance company, a concert choir and chamber chorale, a jazz program, instrumental chamber ensembles, and a symphony orchestra and band constitute the College's performing arts organizations. The Student Activities Board hosts campus-wide social functions throughout the year, including events like Garden Party, Homecoming, President's Ball, and Centralhallapalooza.

Students call their peers "a strong community of people that I admire and am able to trust" and who form an "uplifting and character-building environment." Another affirms: "[We] are an inquisitive, active, and kind student body. We sign an honor code to participate in the goodness of this college." Due to the small size, students come to know nearly all of their peers, and rely on one another to stimulate intellectual and personal advancement. "I feel challenged to think deeply and aspire to ever improve myself in order to reach my fullest potential, but I also feel supported and encouraged when I fall short."There is "plenty of diversity of thought" from this "mostly Christian [and] conservative" body. Students place a premium on discussion and debate, finding that "disagreement...is a reason to improve a friendship, not to disintegrate it." Accordingly, they "voice their opinions on pretty much any topic...from the difference between free will and predestination to whether a brachiosaurus will wear a tie at the top or bottom of his neck." Those conversations pay off, as one student observes: "The friends I have made here and the interpersonal struggles that I have faced have formed me into a better person, because the people here are better too, or at least we're all trying together."

Hillsdale College students have a knack for never having an empty moment. Students are already described as "academically rigorous," apt to not only extend their studies to late-night conversations and talking "about theology and philosophy and economics at the lunch table" but also to practicing their values: "I don't know one person that doesn't volunteer." Students are equally as involved in Student Activities Board events, from casual bowling nights to the semi-formal and formal Garden Party and President's Ball, and "Homecoming week competitions bring the entire campus together." Music excites students to groove with swing dancing, listen in awe to jazz band performances, or offer their own voices: "I sing in the Chapel Choir, and that is an enormous privilege and delight." Weather permitting, "there are often students sprawled out on any patch of green, but usually with a book in hand." Others take to the outdoors for soccer matches, mountain bike trails, and Baw Beese Lake, where one can "enjoy small beaches, volleyball courts, and other water activities." On weekends, some students drive to Coldwater and Ann Arbor for a taste of the city. Students at Hillsdale strive to improve with intention: "Rarely do I feel as if my time isn't spent doing worthwhile activities or academics that are furthering me as a human."