Experimental College (ExCo) Records

The Experimental College (ExCo) is both a student organization and a department of Oberlin College. It sponsors for-credit courses taught by Oberlin students, administrators, townspeople, alumni, and College faculty or staff. The Experimental College was initially proposed by the Student Educational Plans and Policies Committee (SEPPC) in 1967. Other experimental colleges and/or free universities had existed for decades as part of the national experimental college student movement, which was tied to an increase in student engagement and activism in higher education. A few years before Oberlin’s ExCo was proposed, Tufts University founded its version, which was intended to expand the undergraduate curriculum (1964). Materials in the Oberlin College ExCo Records suggest that Oberlin was especially interested in the Tufts model. After the initial SEPPC proposal of an Experimental College for Oberlin, it was reviewed by the General Faculty Council. In 1968, the Faculty approved the SEPPC recommendation in a vote of 46 in favor and 24 opposed. Oberlin’s Experimental College officially commenced in the fall of 1968, with a review scheduled by the General Faculty “no later than during its third year of operation.” ExCo did not receive its first official charter until 1972, although its abbreviated nickname was in use by end of 1969. The organization’s charter was modified in 1979.

In the first years of its existence, ExCo’s ability to meet student demand for courses was limited. Initially, ExCo was only granted the ability to offer five courses per semester. Enrollment was capped at twelve students per course. In the 1969-1970 academic year, the Educational Plans and Policies Committee (EPPC) expanded the credit allocation of the Committee to a maximum of 180 credits per semester. It also removed the limit on how many courses a student could take for credit. Until December of 1969, ExCo courses were offered twice a week for the full semester, which was modified to a one-per day for four weeks schedule at the end of the calendar year.

During the 1970-1971 academic year, the 180-hour limit was lifted. Instead, each student could count three ExCo credits toward graduation requirements. In 1972, the number of ExCo credits that would count towards graduation was increased to five per student. As of 2026, students may elect to take an ExCo for one or two credits.

ExCo experienced rapid growth in both course offerings and student enrollment during its first two decades of existence. By the 1980s, it was regularly offering more than 50 courses each semester. In 1987, Robyn Gittleman of Tufts University Experimental College attributed the sustained participation in Oberlin’s ExCo to the College’s unique student ethos. Although ExCo clearly demonstrated that it could sustain student participation, it struggled to attract community members. In the 1970s, the ExCo Committee urged faculty and townspeople to teach and take courses.

ExCo offers courses outside the typical Oberlin curriculum. Its offerings reflect the academic, cultural, social, political, and intellectual trends of the Oberlin community from 1968 to the present. The curriculum changes each semester as instructors design courses, which can be taught once or brought back over many years. Since its early years, ExCo has frequently offered courses related to diverse or underrepresented historical perspectives, including Black, Asian American, and Indigenous histories. A 1970 class focused on Mexican history; a 1971 course called “American Indian” was taught by a member of the Navajo tribe; and in 1974, courses focused on the “Justification of Civil Disobedience” and “The Social Memory of the American Jew.”

A review of ExCo course lists and catalogs will provide evidence of some of the passions, interests, and shared expertise on Oberlin’s campus over time. In the mid-1970s, offerings included “Introductory Conversational Yiddish,” “Women and the Law,” “Homosexuality,” folk music, “Co-op History, Politics, and Economics,” ballet, Confucianism, and computer programming. The student newspaper, The Oberlin Review, offered a course on journalism. In 1985, courses offered covered topics like steel drum, sign language, Star Trek, The Fountainhead, the Mishnah, a mime workshop, “Gymnastics on the Moving Horse,” Asian American history, and “The Individual in Society: Lesbian and Gay Experience.” In the early 1990s, courses included “The Cuban Revolution,” “Palestinian Literature Since 1948,” “Practicum in Poverty,” “The Art of Stripping,” “Rethinking the Masculine Tradition,” and “Natural Fertility Awareness.”

Numerous courses that began as ExCo classes have been incorporated into the College curriculum, including in the Africana Studies Department. Others have inspired the creation of departments such as Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies. ExCo works in tandem with many other student organizations, with courses offered as introductions to organization content and activities, including for Sexual Information Center (SIC) staff and OSteel performers.

As of 2026, ExCo is run by the ExCo Committee, which is entirely composed of students. Initially, the SEPPC organized, approved, and regulated all ExCo courses. After a few years, the SEPPC became the ExCo Committee, which was dedicated to providing that oversight. The Committee hosts the ExCo Fair each semester, vets instructors, reviews and approves courses, and ensures that ExCo meets the necessary accreditation standards. Working as an ExCo Committee member was initially a volunteer role but is now a paid position. The amount of work taken on by the Committee members has often been invisible to students enrolled in ExCos. Turnover of students on the Committee has led to challenges in maintaining the department’s institutional memory. The transition from an unpaid ad hoc Committee to paid staff in about the 2010s attempted to address some of these issues.

While many experimental colleges at other institutions lasted only a decade or two, Oberlin’s Experimental College will celebrate its 60th anniversary in 2028. An ExCo website notes that it “…has a substantial impact on the educational experience of nearly any person who chooses to participate as either an instructor, student, or member of an ExCo Committee.”

Note written by Anne Cuyler Salsich, updated by Abby Fiedler, and edited by Emily Rebmann.