But that’s about it.įrom the list, you can see that some women’s colleges are more selective than others. Yes, they all have a student body of women. Since most women’s colleges are liberal arts colleges, they have a smaller and more tight-knit population and community of students.Īre All Women’s Colleges Basically The Same? Most women’s colleges are on the east coast, with a few concentrated in the midwest and south, and only a couple on the west coast. The list also includes the acceptance rate and the student body size of each school. This number is extremely low compared to the 1960s when there were 281 women’s colleges around the country. The University of Denver also has a college for women. The following is a list of the 33 non-coeducational women’s colleges around the United States that exist today. Which Colleges Are Currently Considered Women’s Colleges? These include: Mills College, Mount Holyoke College, Simmons College, Scripps College, Bryn Mawr College, Wellesley College, Smith College, Hollins University, Barnard College, Bennett College and Spelman College. According to NBC News, 11 out of the 39 schools in the Women’s College Coalition have updated their policies to include trans women. More recently, some women’s colleges have revised their admissions policies to admit transgender women. Over time, as other schools began to admit women as well as men, some historically women’s colleges, like Vassar College and Sarah Lawrence College, became co-ed themselves.Ĭurrently, most of these colleges allow women who have checked “female” on their Common App to apply, and usually this includes non-binary and trans folks assigned female at birth as well. In 1837, Oberlin College, which was also the first college to admit black students, was the first previously all-men’s college to admit women. Many women’s colleges started as seminaries, such as the first all-women’s institute, Bethlehem Female Seminary, which was established in 1742. Women’s colleges were founded in the mid-late 19th century to provide women with higher education because most colleges at the time were limited to men. If you’re looking to grow among similar-minded peers hoping to break the glass ceiling, a women’s college might be just right for you. In this article, I will discuss the background and history of women’s colleges, followed by some of their key characteristics: academic life, social life, cross-registration, and application tips.
But a women’s college might not be your cup of tea if you’re looking for schools with big party scenes, Greek life and strong athletic programs.
There are several factors that make women’s colleges worthwhile, from smaller class sizes that include some of the smartest students around the world, to missions that promote women empowerment in male dominated fields. Usually following a liberal arts curriculum, today’s women’s colleges are elite institutions which have traditionally admitted only women into their schools. These were integral parts of my experience at Wellesley College, with the collective goal to smash the patriarchy as an added bonus. Maybe you haven’t thought about single sex education, but if you have ever considered seeking a college where you will find other empowered young women, with established female role models as your professors, look no further than a women’s college.