A Strategic Direction for Bryn Mawr College

A Strategic Direction for Bryn Mawr College

Connecting our storied history of academic rigor with a bold vision for the future.

Next Chapter - A message from Wendy

A Message from President Cadge

Dear Members of the Bryn Mawr Community,

Today, I am proud to share "The Next Chapter," a ten-year strategic direction designed not just to navigate the future of Bryn Mawr but to co-create it. Our board of trustees voted last Friday to endorse the strong direction our community sees for itself, affirming that this collective vision provides the essential foundation for the College’s vibrant future....

Read the Announcement Here

A Bold Vision for the Future

Bryn Mawr College was established in 1885 to offer a more rigorous education than any available to women at that time, through a model characterized by historian Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz as “a unique blend of university and women’s college” in Alma Mater: Design and Experience in the Women’s Colleges from Their Nineteenth-Century Beginnings to the 1930s. Generations of students, faculty, staff, and alumnae/i advanced this commitment, which is rooted in academic rigor, pioneering student self-governance, and communities that span generations. 

As the College looks to—and beyond—its 2035 sesquicentennial, we have the opportunity to build forward with boldness and distinction. The Next Chapter, a ten-year framework of strategic focus and direction, charts a path by which Bryn Mawr will connect the best of its history with the needs and aspirations of students of the future, preparing the next generation of Mawrters who will change the world.  

Read the full text Download a PDF version Read the Philadelphia Inquirer’s coverage

Our Key Commitments

The Next Chapter is organized around these key commitments. These commitments emerge from three and a half years of strategic planning and visioning, including the reports of four on-campus working groups; conversations with hundreds of students, faculty, staff, and alumnae/i; community feedback on several draft documents; and a series of campus conversations on related strategic topics.

Success across these commitments will make visible how living and learning in Bryn Mawr’s distinctive context helps students develop their own voices, grow into their own styles of leadership, and advocate for their place and well-being in the world during and beyond their college experience.

Redoubling Our Commitment to Academic Excellence & Distinction

We are investing in the intellectual heart of the College. By moving to a reduced two-class teaching load each semester, we empower our faculty to lead in research and mentorship. We will also reimagine the "Library of the Future" as a beacon of digital and physical inquiry.

Get Details about this Commitment
Next Chapter Pillar 1 - no flag

Providing Holistic Support for Students & Alumnae/i

From matriculation to commencement, we are streamlining the student journey. We are aligning our curriculum with the aspirations of the future, ensuring every student has the tools to thrive in a complex world.

Get Details about this Commitment
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Advancing a Community Approach to Access & Inclusion

We are dismantling barriers. Our move toward need-blind admissions and the creation of truly equitable institutional structures ensure that potential and talent, not circumstance, dictate each student’s path.

Get Details about this Commitment
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Enhancing Visibility, Reputation, & Impact

Bryn Mawr will amplify our voice on local, national and global stages and better celebrate the scholarship and leadership of our community.

Get Details about this Commitment
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Modernizing Infrastructure, Facilities, & Operating Systems

We have set a goal of carbon neutrality by 2035. Every brick laid and every system modernized will reflect our commitment to environmental justice and a world-class residential experience.

Get Details about this Commitment
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Pilot Grants

To make distinctive contributions over the next 10 years, we need to pilot the community’s best ideas. Learn more about the grants awarded during the 2025-26 academic year and see our ideas in action.

Learn More About the Pilot Grants
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A Collaborative Process

President Cadge has led a collective effort to develop innovative approaches to the College’s next chapter through a strategic direction, a comprehensive physical plan for the campus, and pilot grants open to all members of the on-campus community. The process has been guided by four questions centered on what will best support students and faculty today and into the future. 

1. How do we prepare Bryn Mawr College to lead the liberal arts of the future as a research college with graduate programs?

2. What will the liberal arts need to consist of for undergraduates entering their lives, the workforce, etc., in the 2030s and 2040s? Students who will enter the College in 2035 are in fourth grade today. 

3. How will undergraduate and graduate students live, learn, and how will we teach and engage with them inside and outside of the classroom? 

4. What infrastructure – living and learning spaces, places to eat, academic and other buildings, operational systems, IT systems, people systems, etc. – will best support Bryn Mawr's operationalization of its mission in 2035? 

Below, see details of the collaborative process in action that led to the final strategic vision. 

Spring 2026

Jan 28 2026

HIGHLIGHT: January 28, 2026 - Bryn Mawr's Next Chapter: President Cadge hosted a Current Topics in Higher Education luncheon in partnership with DLR Group. During the event, she shared an overview of the five strategic pillars guiding the College’s next chapter, which emerged from extensive community feedback gathered during the fall semester. Read about it here. 

Summary and Resources

January 1, 2026 - present

  • Jan. 27-28, 2025 - DLR Group on Campus: Concept Synthesis
  • Jan. 20, 2025 - Presidential Update
  • Jan. 1-31, 2025 - Online Alumnae/i Survey

Fall 2025

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HIGHLIGHT: November 13, 2025 - The Liberal Arts of the Future: President Cadge and DLR Group, the integrated design firm the College selected to partner with on developing its Comprehensive Campus Plan, hosted a workshop, during which groups of community members gathered around tables with maps of the campus, pieces of various colored string, custom stickers representing every type of building and service imaginable on a college campus, and Post-it notes, and went to work on creating their ultimate Bryn Mawr campus. Read about it here.

Summary and Resources

August 1, 2025 - December 31, 2025

Spring 2025

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HIGHLIGHT: April 21, 2025 - Designing the Next Chapter: Bryn Mawr College undergraduate and graduate students as well as other community members attended this event where Wendy Cadge shared results from a "Start, Stop, Continue" survey of students. Read about it here.

Summary and Resources

January 1, 2025 - December 31, 2025

Fall 2024

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HIGHLIGHT: December 10, 2024 - First Steps Toward a Strategic Plan: A group of about 100 staff and faculty gathered for a Town Hall to hear Bryn Mawr President Wendy Cadge discuss the findings from a “Start, Stop, Continue” survey of faculty and staff. Read about it here.

Summary and Resources

August 1, 2024 - December 31, 2024

Incorporating Past Work 

Building on President Cassidy's Foundational Work

From 2022-2024, former President Kim Cassidy led the College in a strategic planning project to help our community envision our goals and aspirations for the future. The process centered around four areas of inquiry designed to include community engagement and to create bold ideas that will move our campus forward. You can read more about that work here:

 - "2022-2024 Strategic Planning" (Cassidy, 2024)
 - “Excellence in Action: the Vision for Bryn Mawr’s Undergraduate College” (Cassidy, 2019)
 - "Four Priorities for 2013-15" (Cassidy, 2013)
 - "Plan for Bryn Mawr" (McAuliffe, 2012)
 - “Plan for a New Century” (Vickers, 2000)
 - “Agenda for the Future" (McPherson, 1995)
 - “Plan for Achieving Financial Equilibrium” (McPherson, 1993)