Hillsdale's required core curriculum includes courses on the Great Books, the U.S. Constitution, biology, chemistry, and physics.

[7] Defunct Newspapers Journals TV channels Websites Other Congressional caucuses Economics Gun rights Identity politics Nativist Religion Watchdog groups Youth/student groups Miscellaneous Other Members of the Free Will Baptist Church founded their denomination's first collegiate institution, Michigan Central College in Spring Arbor, Michigan,[9]: 6  in 1844.

Hillsdale's early anti-slavery reputation and pivotal role in founding the Republican Party led to the invitation of several notable speakers on the campus, including Frederick Douglass (who visited the school on two occasions) and Edward Everett, the orator who preceded Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg.

[13]Hillsdale's first president, Daniel McBride Graham, returned for a brief second term in 1871, notably rebuilding the campus after the catastrophic "Great Fire" of March 6, 1874.

[13] Beloved by the college community and an early and outspoken advocate for women's suffrage, Mauck served for two decades.

[9]: 166 [24]: xxiii William Gear Spencer succeeded Mauck as president, serving from 1922 to 1932, when he departed to lead Franklin College.

[13][27] Under Spencer, Hillsdale acquired its 14-acre Slayton Arboretum, built new dormitories, constructed a new field house for its developing athletic programs, and, in 1924, chartered its chapter of Chi Omega.

[13] Throughout this era, the college struggled financially, was forced to cancel its new construction projects, and cut the pay of its faculty and staff by nearly 20%.

[13] Despite its financial difficulties, the college built a new library, had an undefeated and untied football team in 1938, and celebrated its centennial in 1944, when more than 1,000 alumni returned to campus for the commencement ceremony.

[28] In these years, Hillsdale began to resist federal civil rights regulations, particularly concerning affirmative action, enacted in the 1960s.

Colleges that receive federal funding are required by law to report data on racial integration as part of the US affirmative action student loan program.

Hillsdale announced that it refused to do so, and the college's trustees instead stated that the institution would follow its own non-discrimination policy and "with the help of God, resist, by all legal means, any encroachments on its independence.

"[24]: 237–39 During Roche's presidency, the college dramatically increased its endowment, established the Center for Constructive Alternatives, and hosted prominent national speakers, including Ronald Reagan.

[42][better source needed] In 2020, Hillsdale founded the Van Andel Graduate School of Government on its DC campus offering an M.A.

[44][citation needed] In 2013, Arnn was criticized for remarks about ethnic minorities he made while testifying before the Michigan legislature against the Common Core curriculum standards.

"[45][46] Michigan House Democratic Leader Tim Greimel condemned Arnn's comments, calling them "offensive", "inflammatory and bigoted", and asked for an apology.

[48] In 2019, S. Prestley Blake donated his former home, an exact replica of Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, in Somers, Connecticut to Hillsdale College.

[49][citation needed] In November 2021, Hillsdale purchased land in Placer County, California for nearly $6M with plans for a new educational center.

[54] The lawsuit points to Hillsdale's policy of not accepting government funding "to avoid its obligations under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972", and accuses the school of putting its students at an "unusually high risk of sexual assault because Hillsdale fails to have or enforce policies that prevent sexual assault".

[56] Hillsdale College is a member of the advisory board of Project 2025,[57] a collection of conservative and right-wing policy proposals from the Heritage Foundation to reshape the United States federal government and consolidate executive power since Trump won the 2024 presidential election.

and a Ph.D. program in Politics;[64] the Steve and Amy Van Andel Graduate School of Government, based in Washington, D.C., and offering an M.A.

[68] The college opened the classical-style Christ Chapel in 2019, in a dedication ceremony led by Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas.

[69] The campus features the Liberty Walk, a walkway lined with bronze depictions of famous politicians including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, and Ronald Reagan.

Following a lengthy battle over zoning issues,[79] the college has turned the estate into The Blake Center for Faith and Freedom.

The academy's stated goal is to "educate the American people about the free exchange of scientific ideas and the proper relationship between freedom and science in the pursuit of truth".

The academy called the United States' response to the COVID-19 pandemic "the worst public health fiasco in history" that "has unveiled serious issues with how science is administered".

Scott Atlas, Jay Bhattacharya, and Martin Kulldorff, who helped found the academy, have ties to the Great Barrington Declaration.