Originally named the Woman's College of Baltimore, Goucher was founded 1885 by the Rev. John Franklin Goucher, after whom the college was renamed in 1910. Established in downtown Baltimore, Goucher relocated its campus in 1954 to a 287-acre wooded campus in Towson, MD, just eight miles north of the heart of the city. The college has been coeducational since 1986.

Over its long history, Goucher has built a strong, innovative tradition of liberal arts education that offers five distinct advantages:

• -National reputation - One of the select Colleges That Change Lives, Goucher is also listed as a top institution by The Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report.
• -Top-tier academics - Goucher offers 33 majors, a 10-to-1 student-faculty ratio, and opportunities for high-level undergraduate research.
• -Welcoming community - Goucher's campus has room for all kinds of people.
• -Global perspective - Goucher is ranked No. 1 in study abroad, and 100% of undergraduates go overseas before graduating, acquiring employer-sought skills, such as adaptability and cross-cultural awareness.
• -Excellent outcomes - Goucher students master the skill set employers demand: 96 percent of the Class of 2013 is employed and/or in graduate/professional school.

A highlight of Goucher's unique liberal arts curriculum is the requirement that all undergraduates must study abroad at least once before graduation, making the college the first in the nation to make such a bold move in globalized education. Goucher's academic philosophy is focused on 3Rs: relationships, resilience, and reflection, and coursework reflects the core values of a liberal arts education: proficiency in English composition and in a foreign language, solid foundations in history, abstract reasoning, scientific discovery and experimentation, problem-solving, social structures, and environmental sustainability.

Since 1990, the college also has added several graduate programs and now offers master's degrees in education, teaching, historic preservation, arts administration, cultural sustainability, digital arts, creative nonfiction, management, and environmental sustainability, plus a post-baccalaureate premedical program.

In addition to a comprehensive undergraduate liberal arts education and excellent graduate programs, Goucher also offers more than 60 student-run clubs, well-established opportunities for community service and leadership, and a wide-ranging internship program. Students also compete in 17 NCAA Division III sports (basketball, volleyball, tennis, soccer, track and field, cross-country, swimming, field hockey, and lacrosse), national equestrian events, and intramural sports.

Goucher strives to educate the whole student and promotes a broad education over narrow career training. This gives graduates a wide range of professional options and increased ability to take advantage of new opportunities in developing fields-and even the capability to change careers. Goucher students master a range of knowledge, including the communication, critical thinking, and quantitative reasoning skills that U.S. employers overwhelmingly say they want job candidates to have.