Background
Milo Goes to College followed the Descendents' 1981 Fat EP, a record which had established the band's presence in the southern California hardcore punk movement with its short, fast, aggressive songs. For the recording of their first album in June 1982, the band worked at Total Access Recording in Redondo Beach, California with Spot, who had also engineered and produced the Fat EP. While still short and fast, the songs on Milo Goes to College were also melodic. Singer Milo Aukerman later reflected: "It's interesting: we started very melodic, then moved to hardcore, but melded the two at a certain point and became melodic hardcore."
The album's title and cover illustration referenced Aukerman's departure from the band to study biology at the University of California, San Diego. The illustration was done by Jeff Atkinson, based on earlier caricatures by a high school classmate of Aukerman's named Roger Deuerlein, who had drawn comic strips and posters depicting Aukerman as the class nerd. The illustration was later reinterpreted by other artists for the covers of I Don't Want to Grow Up, Everything Sucks, "I'm the One", "When I Get Old", 'Merican, and Cool to Be You. A note on the back of the LP read "In dedication to Milo Aukerman from the Descendents", and was signed by the other three members. Aukerman later recalled that the band took his departure in stride:
When I decided to go to college, the guys in the band were pretty hip on it because they knew how big of a nerd I was. Like, "What else would you expect him to do but to go off and be a nerd?" I mean, I've got a Ph.D in biochemistry — how uncool is that?
The Descendents continued performing for a time during 1982 and 1983, initially with Ray Cooper on vocals, then occasionally with Aukerman on his return visits to Los Angeles, after Cooper moved to rhythm guitar. The band then went on hiatus until 1985, when Aukerman returned for the recording of I Don't Want to Grow Up.
In 1987 New Alliance was sold to SST Records, who re-released Milo Goes to College on cassette and compact disc. It was also reissued in 1988 as part of the compilation album Two Things at Once.
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