How Pomona College Supports Undergraduate Research

Updated

Pomona College supports undergraduate research primarily by making it a normal part of the academic experience rather than an exception: more than half of all Pomona students assist professors with research projects, and the college provides academic and financial support for that work. This applies across the arts, humanities, social sciences and natural sciences, so the opportunity is not limited to one part of the curriculum.

The scale of undergraduate research at Pomona

The clearest signal is participation. According to the college, more than half of all Pomona students assist with professors in research projects. That figure matters because it describes a typical path, not a selective honors track. A student entering Pomona can reasonably expect research to be an available option within their four years, provided they take the initiative to find a faculty project and arrange the work.

Pomona frames this as part of its broader identity: a close-knit community of scholars, scientists, entrepreneurs and artists. Research participation is presented as one expression of that community rather than a separate program bolted on.

What makes it possible: small classes and faculty proximity

Two structural features support undergraduate research at Pomona:

  • Small classes. The college states that small classes allow students and faculty to build close relationships, delve into research and explore across academic fields. Smaller settings make it easier for a student to be known well enough to be invited into a project or to ask directly.
  • Faculty who live nearby. More than 90% of students live on campus all four years, and many professors live within five miles of campus. The college notes that new collaborations or discussions can spring up anywhere — a residence hall, a club meeting, or lunch with a professor.

The practical implication: access to research often comes through relationships formed in class, office hours or informal contact, not through a centralized application portal.

Academic and financial support

Pomona states that students assisting with faculty research receive academic and financial support for a deeper approach to learning. For a prospective or current student, that means research involvement is not automatically an unpaid extracurricular commitment. The specific form of support — stipend, credit, summer funding, travel — is not detailed on the page reviewed here, so confirm current terms with the relevant department or office.

Research across all four divisions

Pomona offers a comprehensive curriculum with 48 majors in the arts, humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. Research support is described as spanning academic fields generally, so a student in the humanities or arts is not excluded from the kind of faculty collaboration often associated with lab sciences. If your interest is in a specific discipline, the useful next step is to look at that department's faculty and their current projects.

How a student would actually get involved

Based on how the college describes the process, a realistic sequence looks like this:

  1. Identify a faculty member whose work connects to your interests. Department pages and course listings are the starting point.
  2. Take a class with them or attend office hours. The college's emphasis on small classes and close relationships suggests this is how most collaborations begin.
  3. Ask about current projects and whether undergraduates can contribute. Expect to describe what you can offer and how much time you have.
  4. Clarify the terms. Ask whether the work carries academic credit, financial support, or both, and what the expected time commitment is.
  5. Confirm funding details with the department or the relevant office, since support structures can differ by division and by term.

Common sticking points

  • Assuming research is only for seniors or honors students. The participation figure — more than half of all students — argues against that.
  • Waiting to be recruited. Nothing in the college's description suggests a matching system; the initiative appears to rest with the student.
  • Not asking about funding. Support exists, but you need to ask what form it takes for your situation.
  • Limiting your search to one division. Research collaboration is described across the arts, humanities, social sciences and natural sciences.

What this means for your decision

If undergraduate research is a priority in your college search, Pomona's own description gives you a concrete benchmark: a majority of students participate, support is provided, and the small-class, residential setting is designed to make faculty relationships easy to form. The remaining variables — which departments have openings, how funding is allocated in a given year, and how competitive specific projects are — are best checked directly with the college, since those details change and are not fixed by the general description above.