It is published weekly each Friday during the academic year, typically spans roughly ten pages per issue, and is primarily funded by the student governments of the colleges.

[3][6] It is also the largest and most widely distributed campus newspaper at the 5Cs, with a significant readership among students, staff, faculty, alumni, and members of the Claremont community.

The News section appears at the front of the paper, and covers a range of campus politics, issues, and current events, and often includes investigative pieces.

Once a year, typically on the Friday nearest to April Fools' Day, TSL releases a mock edition of the newspaper with funny articles and satirical news stories.

[21][22][23][24][25] In November 2015, TSL's reporting on racial tensions at Claremont McKenna College that led to the resignation of a dean of students was widely cited by national media outlets covering the episode.

[37] TSL maintains a staff of around 120 students, including writers, columnists, photographers, videographers, designers, copy specialists, business associates, and editors.

Andrew Jaffe from Pomona's class of 1960, who traveled to Nashville to cover the sit-in movement for TSL,[39] later became an executive at Adweek and oversaw the Clio Awards.

[41][42] Former New York Times executive editor and Pulitzer winner Bill Keller from Pomona's class of 1970 edited the Collegian when he was in college[43] and maintains close ties with TSL's current staff.