Reed College
Reed College is a private, nonprofit liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon, founded in 1908, serving approximately 1,400-1,500 undergraduates through a test-blind, thesis-driven residential program, funded by tuition, auxiliary services, and endowment income.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1908
- HeadquartersPortland, United States
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Reed College does
Reed College is a private, independent, nonprofit liberal arts and sciences college founded in 1908 and located on a 28-acre canyon watershed campus at 3203 SE Woodstock Boulevard in Portland, Oregon. The institution enrolls approximately 1,400-1,500 undergraduates through a holistic, test-blind admissions process that waives application fees, and it is governed by a Board of Trustees with no public shareholders or institutional equity investors. Reed's core academic product is a four-year residential undergraduate liberal arts program distinguished by the mandatory senior thesis, the shared Humanities 110 first-year seminar, de-emphasized letter grades in favor of written feedback, the honor principle, and undergraduate research access from day one — including work in a campus nuclear reactor and the canyon research program.
The college's underlying technology stack is conventional educational and enterprise IT: the IRIS student portal, library digital collections and Electronic Theses Archive, Singlewire Informacast-powered Reed Campus Alerts emergency notification system, sustainability monitoring systems, and standard HR/compliance platforms. Reed does not disclose proprietary technology platforms or AI capabilities, and its competitive identity is built on pedagogy, faculty-student ratios, and intellectual culture rather than technology differentiation. Products and services extend beyond the academic core to include the Center for Life Beyond Reed (career services via Handshake), the EXEL experiential learning program, Reed Magazine, the Burn Your Draft podcast, Health and Counseling, the Office for Institutional Diversity, the Title IX Office, and a sustainability program with LEED Platinum-certified buildings.
Reed's revenue model is institutional rather than commercial. Primary revenue streams are undergraduate tuition and fees (with need-based aid and merit scholarships), auxiliary services including campus housing and Bon Appétit-operated dining, and charitable gifts and endowment income. Specific pricing is not publicly disclosed in source materials. The college markets through a multi-channel approach — Reed Magazine, newsroom, podcast, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, campus visits, and college fairs — to recruit nationally and internationally. Moody's Investors Service affirmed Reed's Aa2 credit rating in 2026 but revised the outlook to negative, citing declining traditional student enrollment, slowing investment returns, and expected federal research funding reductions as sector headwinds.
Reed College firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Reed College
- Legal name
- Reed College
- Website
- https://reed.edu
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1908
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Reed College is a private, nonprofit liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon, founded in 1908, serving approximately 1,400-1,500 undergraduates through a test-blind, thesis-driven residential program, funded by tuition, auxiliary services, and endowment income.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Reed College industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Higher Education (Liberal Arts)
- NAICS
- Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Residential Liberal Arts Colleges (EDAHACAH)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- General Liberal Arts Colleges (EDAHACAA)
Keywords
Where Reed College is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Portland
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Reed College business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Tuition and Fees: Reed College generates primary revenue from undergraduate tuition and fees. The college offers need-based financial aid and merit scholarships.
- Sustainability Services: The college has invested $5.4 million in sustainability infrastructure, achieving significant energy savings of over $250,000 annually.
- Auxiliary Services: Revenue from campus housing, dining services operated by Bon Appétit Management Company, recreational facilities, and conference services.
- Gifts and Endowments: Charitable contributions from alumni, parents, and friends of the college; endowment income supporting operations and financial aid.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels8 records
Reed College product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Reed College is a private liberal arts and sciences college that provides a four-year residential undergraduate education centered on the Humanities 110 first-year program and a mandatory senior thesis. The college supports this academic core with residential life, career advising through the Center for Life Beyond Reed, library services, health and counseling, and an on-campus nuclear reactor used for undergraduate research.
Product overview
Reed College is a private liberal arts college offering a single unified educational program centered on rigorous undergraduate liberal arts education across diverse disciplines. The core academic experience is distinguished by the required senior thesis, the shared Humanities 110 first-year program, and extensive undergraduate research opportunities. The institution complements its academic offerings with integrated student support services including the Center for Life Beyond Reed for career services, the Title IX Office for compliance, Health and Counseling Center, Community Safety, the Office for Institutional Diversity, Library services, Reed Campus Alerts emergency notification system, the Burn Your Draft podcast for thesis support, and Reed Magazine for community communication. The college also maintains sustainability programs and HR workplace flexibility policies for staff.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Undergraduate Liberal Arts Education (Academic Programs) Four-year residential undergraduate liberal arts and sciences education across humanities, sciences, and interdisciplinary studies, culminating in a mandatory senior thesis and open to students admitted through a holistic, test-blind, fee-waived application process.
- Center for Life Beyond Reed (Career Services) Career services center for current students and alumni offering advising, job and internship postings, employer connections, graduate school guidance, the EXEL experiential learning program, and peer career advising via the Handshake platform.
- Reed College Library Library services including course reserves, interlibrary loan, specialized collections (Zine Library, Special Collections and Archives, Visual Resources Center), research databases, and subject-specific librarian support for students and faculty.
- Health and Counseling Center On-campus student health services providing medical care, counseling, confidential advocacy, and wellness resources for enrolled students.
- Reed Campus Alerts Emergency notification system delivering urgent messages to students, faculty, and staff via cell phone, office phone, home phone, email, and on-campus speakers during campus emergencies.
- Student Support Services Comprehensive student support including the Reed Care Team, Behavioral Intervention Team, Student Life On-Call Team, and referral systems for students in distress.
- Sustainability Program Campus-wide environmental sustainability initiatives covering zero-waste management, renewable energy, LEED-certified buildings (including a Platinum LEED-certified Trillium Residence Hall with a 106 kW solar array), sustainable food services, transportation, and academic environmental studies.
- Nurse Advice Line and Counseling Hotline After-hours and confidential health and counseling support lines (Reed Nurse Advice Line and Reed Counseling Hotline) operated through the Health and Counseling Center.
Quantifiable outcome
- Students produce original research culminating in a senior thesis
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Reed College
Customer profileSegments3 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Reed College technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration2 records
Reed College partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core, support and minor.
- Bon Appétit Management CompanycoreBon Appétit Management Company operates food services at Reed College. The partnership received Gold Certification from the City of Portland's Sustainability at Work program in 2014 for sustainable food operations.
- Singlewire InformacastcoreSinglewire Informacast powers Reed Campus Alerts, the college's emergency notification system that delivers messages to cell phones, office phones, home phones, and email addresses of students, faculty, and staff.
- Kaiser Mt. Talbert Occupational Health ClinicsupportKaiser Mt. Talbert Occupational Health Clinic is the designated occupational health partner for Reed College, providing convenient medical care for work-related injuries. Appointments are not required and employees may visit directly.
- Johnson Creek Watershed CouncilminorReed College partners with the Johnson Creek Watershed Council for habitat restoration efforts in the 28-acre Reed canyon watershed, supporting salmon spawning grounds and aquatic species habitat.
- HandshakecoreHandshake is the career platform used by Reed College's Center for Life Beyond Reed, providing students and alumni access to job postings, internship opportunities, employer connections, and career advising appointments.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Reed College competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Bowdoin College: Highly selective residential liberal arts college in Maine with comparable academic model, sustainability focus, and similar tuition scale. Competes with Reed for academically oriented undergraduates nationally.
- Bates College: Highly selective residential liberal arts college in Maine with comparable academic culture, optional thesis tradition, and similar institutional scale. Competes with Reed in New England and national liberal arts market.
- Pomona College: Highly selective residential liberal arts college in Claremont, California with similar academic rigor, small enrollment, and nationally comparable applicant pool to Reed. Both compete in the top tier of liberal arts admissions.
- Swarthmore College: Highly selective Quaker-affiliated residential liberal arts college with comparable honors thesis requirements, intellectual rigor positioning, and similar student demographic. Direct competitor in liberal arts admissions market.
- Amherst College: Highly selective residential liberal arts college in Massachusetts with comparable academic profile, test-optional admissions, and similar tuition-revenue model. Competes head-to-head with Reed in admissions.
- Wellesley College: Highly selective residential liberal arts college in Massachusetts with comparable academic intensity, strong endowment, and similar tuition-revenue model. Competes with Reed for high-achieving liberal arts applicants.
- Middlebury College: Highly selective residential liberal arts college in Vermont with comparable academic intensity, faculty-student ratio, and similar tuition model. Competes with Reed in top-tier liberal arts recruitment.
- Haverford College: Highly selective residential liberal arts college in Pennsylvania with comparable honor code governance, thesis traditions, and similar academic culture. Direct competitor for intellectually rigorous liberal arts applicants.
- Williams College: Premier residential liberal arts college in Massachusetts with comparable selectivity, undergraduate thesis traditions, and similar scale and tuition model. Direct competitor for high-achieving liberal arts applicants.
- Carleton College: Highly selective residential liberal arts college in Minnesota with comparable academic rigor, comprehensive distribution requirements, and similar institutional scale. Direct competitor in mid-continent liberal arts market.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Reed College social profiles
Digital presenceReed College financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Reed College leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Reed College funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Reed College M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Reed College
What does Reed College do?
Reed College is a private liberal arts and sciences college that provides a four-year residential undergraduate education centered on the Humanities 110 first-year program and a mandatory senior thesis. The college supports this academic core with residential life, career advising through the Center for Life Beyond Reed, library services, health and counseling, and an on-campus nuclear reactor used for undergraduate research.
Is Reed College a public or private company?
Reed College is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Reed College founded?
Reed College was founded in 1908. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Reed College based?
Reed College is headquartered in Portland, United States, in the North America region.
How does Reed College make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Tuition and Fees are the primary driver. The others are sustainability Services, auxiliary Services and gifts and Endowments.
Who are Reed College's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Bowdoin College, Bates College, Pomona College, Swarthmore College, Amherst College, Wellesley College, Middlebury College, Haverford College, Williams College and Carleton College.
Does Reed College have an API?
No public API is recorded for Reed College.
What industry is Reed College in?
Reed College's product category is Higher Education (Liberal Arts). Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAHACAH, Residential Liberal Arts Colleges, with a secondary code of EDAHACAA, General Liberal Arts Colleges. Its NAICS code is 6113.