Like many modern American universities, the institution that would eventually become Lewis & Clark was initially intended to provide secondary as well as higher education for a specific religious community, in this case Presbyterian pioneers in Oregon's Willamette Valley.

[11] Kiplinger's Personal Finance places Lewis & Clark at 66th in its 2019 ranking of 149 best value liberal arts colleges in the United States.

[13] Lewis & Clark's 137-acre (0.55 km2) forested campus sits atop Palatine Hill in the Collins View neighborhood of Portland and is contiguous with the 645-acre (2.61 km2) Tryon Creek State Natural Area.

Campus buildings include an award-winning environmentally sustainable academic building (John R. Howard Hall),[14] as well as notable historic architecture such as the Frank Manor House (designed by Herman Brookman) and Rogers Hall (formerly Our Lady of Angels convent of The Sisters of St.

[15] Lewis & Clark was named one of America's top ten "Most Beautiful Campuses" by the Princeton Review,[16] Travel+Leisure[17] as well as an independent architecture blog.

[27] Additionally, the women's team of that same year placed second in the NWC[28] and made an appearance in the NCAA DIII National tournament.

[29] A large number of smaller club and intramural sports such as Rugby[30][31] and Ultimate Frisbee[32][33] enjoy broad participation.