Principia College (Principia or Prin) is a private liberal arts college in Elsah, Illinois. It was founded in 1912 by Mary Kimball Morgan with the purpose of "serving the Cause of Christian Science." "Although the College is not affiliated with the Christian Science Church, the practice of Christian Science is the cornerstone of campus life."
Principia sits on bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River between Alton and Grafton in the Metro East region of Southern Illinois, thirty miles north of St. Louis. A portion of the school's 2,500-acre (1,000 ha) campus is a designated National Historic Landmark District, for its many buildings and design by architect Bernard Maybeck.