SUPPLEMENT NO. 1
                              DATED JULY 29, 2002
                      TO THE PROSPECTUS DATED MAY 1, 2002
                    FOR THE COLLEGE RETIREMENT EQUITIES FUND

NEW POLICY ON CREF GLOBAL EQUITIES ACCOUNT TRANSFERS

THE FOLLOWING DESCRIBES OUR NEW POLICY TO DISCOURAGE MARKET TIMING THAT WILL
AFFECT TRANSFERS INTO AND OUT OF THE CREF GLOBAL EQUITIES ACCOUNT. THE PARAGRAPH
BELOW SUPPLEMENTS THE RELEVANT INFORMATION CONTAINED UNDER THE HEADING "HOW TO
TRANSFER AND WITHDRAW YOUR MONEY":

Beginning October 1, 2002, we will not accept any transfer requests into or out
of the CREF Global Equities Account submitted electronically (i.e., over the
Internet, by telephone, or by fax) between 2:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. Eastern time.
All those transfer requests will be rejected. (We will, however, give you the
option of re-submitting the request to be effective on a later business day.)
Similarly, any instructions to change or cancel a previously submitted request
will be rejected if those instructions are submitted electronically after 2:30
p.m. Eastern time. If the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange is
earlier than 2:30 p.m., the restrictions on these electronic transactions will
begin at the market close.

CHANGE IN CREF GROWTH ACCOUNT BENCHMARK

THE REFERENCES IN THE PROSPECTUS TO THE CREF GROWTH ACCOUNT'S BENCHMARK INDEX
UNDER THE HEADINGS "CREF'S DUAL INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGY(SM)" AND "GROWTH
ACCOUNT" ARE REVISED TO REFLECT THE FOLLOWING CHANGE IN BENCHMARK INDEX:

Effective October 2002, the benchmark index for the CREF Growth Account is the
Russell 1000(R) Growth Index.

CLARIFICATION OF CREF SOCIAL CHOICE ACCOUNT INVESTMENT STRATEGY

THE FOLLOWING SUPPLEMENTS AND AMENDS THE RELEVANT TEXT IN THE PROSPECTUS UNDER
THE HEADING "SOCIAL CHOICE ACCOUNT" THAT DESCRIBES THE SOCIAL CHOICE ACCOUNT'S
INVESTMENT STRATEGY THAT TOOK EFFECT JULY 1, 2002:

Since July 1, 2002, the equities portion of the account seeks to track the
returns and overall investment characteristics of the Russell 3000 Index. The
fixed income portion of the account seeks to track the returns and duration of
the Lehman Brothers Aggregate Bond Index. Both the equities and fixed income
portions of the account will primarily invest in companies included in the BMSI.


[TIAA CREF LOGO]                                                CREF Supp-1 8/02