Founded in 1852, Mills began its 170-year history as the Young Ladies Seminary in Benicia, California, and later as an undergraduate liberal arts college for women with graduate programs for all genders. Consistently ranked one of the top colleges in the West by U.S. News & World Report and one of the "Best Colleges" in the nation by The Princeton Review, Mills provided students with a transformative education rooted in innovative thinking and creative experimentation. Always a college of “firsts,” Mills is recognized as the first women’s college west of the Rockies, the first to create a computer science major for women, one of the first to offer a modern dance major, and the first to enact an admission policy for transgender students.

As one of the most diverse liberal arts colleges in the country, Mills achieved a strong record of academic success with first-generation students, students of color, Latinx students, LGBTQ+ students, and other underrepresented students.

Mills has been home to alums who have gone on to excel as authors, composers, lawyers, professors, ambassadors, scientists, news anchors, governors, congresswomen, and activists. Notable graduates include: US Congresswoman Barbara Lee, groundbreaking MLB sports announcer Renel Brooks Moon, jazz legend Dave Brubeck, avante garde artist Laurie Anderson, grande dame of postmodern dance Trisha Brown, human rights activist Camila Chavez, and former California Secretary of State March Fong Eu.