,·Private Catholic Liberal Arts College·Est. 1928
“A Catholic liberal arts college in the Pioneer Valley known for nursing, education, and the social-justice spirit of the Sisters of St. Joseph.”
The College of Our Lady of the Elms — known on campus simply as Elms College — is a small Catholic liberal arts college in Chicopee, Massachusetts, in the heart of the Pioneer Valley. Founded in 1928 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield (with roots reaching back to an 1897 academy in Pittsfield), Elms became coeducational in 1998 and today enrolls about 1,268 students, including roughly 1,002 undergraduates. The college sits on a compact, walkable 22-acre residential campus about 90 miles west of Boston and within easy reach of the Five College Consortium (Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, Smith, UMass Amherst), giving students big-college academic and cultural amenities while keeping the intimate scale that defines an Elms education. Academically, Elms is best known for its School of Nursing — the BSN, MSN, and DNP programs are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), the program holds full approval from the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing, and recent graduating classes have posted NCLEX pass rates near 98%. Beyond nursing, the college has long-standing strengths in education (with multiple Massachusetts licensure pathways), social work (CSWE-accredited BSW and MSW), psychology, speech-language pathology, and business, plus growing programs in computer science, cybersecurity, and biomedical sciences. With a 12:1 student-to-faculty ratio and average class sizes of 12–18, students work closely with professors and have access to early clinical, classroom, and field placements that more typical of a much larger institution. Life at Elms is shaped by its Catholic, Sisters-of-St.-Joseph identity: a deep emphasis on service, social justice, dignity of every person, and 'uniting neighbor with neighbor, and neighbor with God, without distinction.' Students of all faiths are welcome, and campus ministry, service learning, and the annual Founders' Day (October 15) keep the founding charism visible. Athletically, the Blazers field 13 NCAA Division III teams in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC). Chicopee itself is a mid-sized Massachusetts mill city next to Springfield (home of the Basketball Hall of Fame and Springfield College), with the Berkshires, Boston, Hartford, and New York City all within a manageable train or bus ride.
Visa, OPT, H-1B alumni outcomes, and acceptance rates by country — sourced from FOIA, USCIS H-1B Hub, and DHS SEVIS.
Regional Universities North
US News Best Colleges 2026
Top Performers on Social Mobility (Regional Universities North)
US News Best Colleges 2026
Test Optional — You can submit scores if they help your case, but they're not required.
Official SourceRolling Admission (Domestic)
Elms reviews domestic first-year and transfer applications on a rolling basis with no fixed deadline; no application fee.
International — Fall Entry
International applicants requiring an I-20 must complete files by July 1 for fall entry.
International — Spring Entry
International applicants requiring an I-20 must complete files by November 15 for spring entry.
The deep admissions playbook beyond the headline acceptance rate — round-by-round breakdowns, nationality data, requirements, and contact paths.
Tuition & Fees (All Students)
$40,633 – $43,325
/yr
Beyond the sticker price — every named scholarship, the financial aid policy, need-aware notes, and a personalized net-cost estimate.
How life on campus actually feels — clubs, sports, traditions, housing realities, and how the school integrates with its city.
Elms's signature professional school, educating BSN, accelerated BSN (ABSN), RN-BSN, MSN, and DNP students. Programs are CCNE-accredited and have full approval from the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing; recent NCLEX first-time pass rates approach 98%.
Prepares teachers for Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) licensure across multiple fields, with strong field-placement networks across the Pioneer Valley.
Houses the CSWE-accredited Social Work program (BSW and MSW) along with psychology, sociology, and criminal justice — programs aligned with the college's Sisters-of-St.-Joseph commitment to social justice.
Home of pre-health, computing, and STEM programs, housed in the Center for Natural and Health Sciences (opened 2014). Offers an Elms STEM scholarship program funded in part by NSF support.
Undergraduate business programs plus an MBA and dual-degree MSN/MBA pathway with the School of Nursing, designed for working professionals in the western Massachusetts region.
Undergraduate program in speech-language pathology and audiology, a fast-growing major that feeds into graduate clinical training.
4 years
The college's flagship program — CCNE-accredited, MA-BORN-approved, with more than 1,700 graduates since 1982 and recent NCLEX-RN pass rates near 98%. Includes early clinical placements at Baystate Health and other Pioneer Valley hospital systems.
2 years
Second-degree accelerated pathway for students who already hold a non-nursing bachelor's degree, allowing them to earn a BSN and sit for the NCLEX in roughly 16 months.
2 years
CSWE-accredited graduate social work program with clinical and macro tracks, advanced standing for BSW graduates, and field placements throughout western Massachusetts.
2 years
Professional Science Master's designed as a bridge for students preparing for medical, dental, PA, and related health-professional schools.
Where alumni go after graduation — top industries, grad-school continuation, and the qualitative outcomes story.
Sticker price (annual, out-of-state): $43,325
Net-cost estimate is US-resident-only — international applicants are typically excluded from need-based aid at most schools and should treat the sticker price as the planning baseline.
