About Rhodes
Founded in 1848, Rhodes College is a private, residential, undergraduate college located in the heart of historic midtown Memphis, Tennessee. Rhodes is national, four-year, private, coeducational, residential college committed to the liberal arts and sciences. We aspire to graduate students with a lifelong passion for learning, compassion for others, and the ability to translate academic study and personal concern into effective leadership and action in their communities and the world.

Commitment to Diversity
A diverse learning community is a necessary element of a liberal arts education, for self-understanding is dependent upon the understanding of others. We, the members of Rhodes College, are committed to fostering a community in which diversity is valued and welcomed. To that end, Rhodes College does not discriminate – and will not tolerate harassment – on the basis of race, gender, color, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, national or ethnic origin, military status or any other protected status.

Discover the Rhodes Edge

Rhodes’ rigorous approach to liberal arts and sciences inspires students to discover and cultivate lifelong passions, and to make a difference in the classroom, on campus, in the city of Memphis, and throughout the world. Simply put, our mission is to prepare students for life and career, wherever those journeys take them.

• We value the types of engaging dialogue that arises when students and professors work together to investigate questions and problems they care about. Our student-to-faculty ratio is 10:1 and the average class size is 14 which allows us to have these engaging conversations between faculty and students.
• Through 18 academic departments and 13 interdisciplinary programs, Rhodes offers more than 50 majors, interdisciplinary majors, minors, and academic programs.
• Memphis is more than what you know it to be. Yes, we’re home of the blues and barbeque, Graceland, and the Grizzlies, but we’re much more than that.
• Rhodes graduates are perceptive thinkers, creative problem solvers, and lifelong learners, and they have the skills and abilities that connect them to the country's top graduate and professional schools, interesting careers, and fulfilling lives.
• Rhodes students are conducting leading-edge research and creative activity that produces original intellectual or creative contributions to a wide range of fields of study.
• Rhodes College’s commitment to overseas study is most powerfully expressed in the programs that it has created and developed.

Rhodes is profiled in The Princeton Review’s popular college guide, The Best 384 Colleges: 2019 Edition, and ranks No. 10 for Most Accessible Professors and No. 16 for Most Engaged in Community Service. Rhodes is also one of fifty colleges included in both editions of The Princeton Review’s list of “Colleges That Create Futures” and continues to be included in each new edition of Colleges That Pay You Back: The 200 Schools That Give You the Best Bang for Your Buck. For two years in a row, Rhodes was named America’s #1 Service-Oriented College by Newsweek magazine. In addition, Rhodes regularly garners accolades from U.S. News and World Report, Forbes and Fiske’s Guide to Colleges. Rhodes is also profiled in the prestigious book Colleges That Change Lives.

Rhodes Students

The college’s 2,010 students are a diverse group, representing 45 states (plus D.C.) and 55 countries. They are keenly aware of social responsibility and are involved as volunteers throughout their college years. More than 80% of Rhodes’ students participate in community service.

Rhodes’ students hold impressive academic and extracurricular credentials. The Class of 2024 has a mid-range SAT score of 1250-1400 and a mid-range ACT score of 27-33. 52% of the students of the class of 2024 ranked in the top 10% of their high school class.

Educational Excellence in One of the South’s Most Vibrant Cities

Ask anyone who knows about Rhodes College and you will learn about this rare jewel among the nation's finest liberal arts colleges. Rhodes' students live and learn on a campus cited as one of America's most beautiful. Quietly nestled among 100 acres of wooded charm and Gothic stone buildings in an attractive residential section of Memphis, Rhodes is just minutes from a revitalized downtown where Beale Street (Home of the Blues) meets the majestic Mississippi River.

The campus is within walking distance of the Memphis Zoo and the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. Memphis is the 15th largest city in the United States and offers a broad variety of entertainment, cultural and recreational opportunities, good restaurants, malls, shops and great hangouts. As the region's medical and business hub, Memphis provides students with many internship and research opportunities, as well as career and service opportunities.