Founded in 1887, Pomona College is one of the five prestigious liberal arts colleges that make up the Claremont Colleges in California. The other four colleges are Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College, Pitzer College, and Scripps College, and students can take classes at any of these universities. Among the five colleges, Pomona College has the longest history and is considered the central institution.
The name “Pomona” comes from the Roman goddess of abundance, and there is an anecdote that the founders did not realize that it was also the name of the “goddess of wine”. Pomona College has a strong focus on humanities subjects and is well-known for its English and media studies programs. They also offer majors in Japanese and Chinese. A unique major offered at Pomona College is Public Policy Analysis, which is an interdisciplinary program. In all classes, there is a heavy emphasis on reading and writing, with a particular focus on developing strong writing skills.