In light of updated State of California and Alameda County public health orders, Mills has shifted its fall 2020 instruction plans so that nearly all academic courses—including many classes that would have been taught in hybrid or in-person mode—will be offered entirely online.

The Fiske Guide to Colleges 2021 features Mills College among its "best and most interesting" four-year colleges for a fifteenth consecutive year.

The federal government drops plans to deport or deny entry to international students after Mills and hundreds of other colleges and universities press a lawsuit to protect students' right to continue their studies in the United States.