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Women's colleges in
higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after compl ...
are undergraduate,
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to si ...
-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women. Some women's colleges admit male students to their
graduate school Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and ...
s or in smaller numbers to undergraduate programs, but all serve a primarily female student body.


Distinction from finishing school

A women's college offers an academic curriculum exclusively or primarily, while a girls' or women's finishing school (sometimes called a charm school) focuses on social graces such as deportment, etiquette, and entertaining; academics if offered are secondary. The term '' finishing school'' has sometimes been used or misused to describe certain women's colleges. Some of these colleges may have started as finishing schools but transformed themselves into rigorous liberal arts academic institutions, as for instance the now defunct Finch College. Likewise the secondary school Miss Porter's School was founded as Miss Porter's Finishing School for Young Ladies in 1843; now it emphasizes an academic curriculum. A women's college that had never described itself as a finishing school can acquire the misnomer. Throughout the 114-year history of the women's college Sweet Briar, students and alumnae have objected to calling it a finishing school. Nonetheless the finishing school characterization persisted, and may have contributed to declining enrollment, financial straits, and the school's near closure in 2015.


Declining number

As educational opportunities for women increase, the continuing relevance of women's colleges has been questioned. While fifty years ago there were 240 women's colleges in the U.S., only about 40 now remain. In the words of a teacher at Radcliffe (a women's college that merged with Harvard): " women’s colleges become unnecessary, if women’s colleges become irrelevant, then that’s a sign of our omen'ssuccess."


Around the world


Asia

*
Asian University for Women Asian University for Women (AUW) is an independent, international university in Chittagong, Bangladesh seeking to educate a new generation of leaders in Asia. AUW admits students solely on the basis of merit, regardless of their family's incom ...
, Chittagong,
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...
(estd. 2008) *
Bethune College Bethune College is a women's college located on Bidhan Sarani in Kolkata, India, and affiliated to the University of Calcutta. It is the oldest women's college in India. It was established as a girls' school in 1849, and as a college in 1879. ...
, the first women's college in
South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;; ...
(estd. 1879) * Duksung Women's University in Seoul, South Korea. (estd. 1920) * Dongduk Women's University in Seoul, South Korea. (estd. 1950) * Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea. (estd. 1886) * Indraprastha College for Women,
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
(estd. 1924) * Jinnah University for Women,
Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...
,
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
(estd. 1998) * Keisen University in Japan (estd. 1988) * Lady Irwin College,
New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...
(estd. 1932) *
Lahore College for Women University The Lahore College for Women University (LCWU) ( ur, ) Is a public university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded in 1922 with a capacity of 60 students, it now has a full-time enrollment of about 15,000 students and admits students at Inter ...
in
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
(estd. 1922) * Miranda House,
New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...
(estd. 1948) * Women's College, Aligarh,
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
(estd. 1906)


Philippines

* Assumption College San Lorenzo, Makati City (estd. 1959) * Miriam College in Quezon City (estd. 1926) *
Philippine Women's University The Philippine Women's University (PWU) is a tertiary education school which has its main campus in Manila, Philippines. An institution exclusive for girls from its inception until the 1970s, the PWU admits both women and men as its students. ...
, the first women's university in the Philippines and Asia (estd. 1919) * St. Paul University Manila (estd. 1912) * St. Scholastica's College Manila (estd. 1906)


South Korea

*
Seoul Women's University Seoul Women's University (SWU) is a private university in Nowon District, Seoul, South Korea. The university comprises five colleges and is a doctorate degree-granting institution. History The school was founded in December 1960 by the Presby ...
in Seoul, South Korea (estd. 1961) *
Sookmyung Women's University Sookmyung Women’s University () is a private university in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1906, Sookmyung is Korea’s first royal private educational institution for women. The university's name is derived from the Hanja charact ...
in Seoul, South Korea (estd. 1906) * Sungshin Women's University in Seoul, South Korea. (estd. 1936)


Canada

Brescia University College is
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
's only extant university-level women's educational institution. Brescia is affiliated with and located on the campus of the University of Western Ontario in
London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximat ...
.About Brescia University College
/ref> Mount Saint Vincent University in
Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. Th ...
was originally founded as a women's college in 1875, but became co-educational in 1967.


Middle East

;Kingdom of Bahrain * Royal University for Women ;United Arab Emirates * Dubai Women's College ;Kuwait
Box Hill College Kuwait

College for Women, a separate faculty at Kuwait University
;Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Most major universities in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are composed of two branches: a women-only branch and a similar male-only branch. This includes the following universities:
King Saud University

Al-Imam University

King Abdulaziz University

King Faisal University

Prince Sultan University
The following are female-only institutions: *
Effat University Effat University ( ar, جامعة عفّت) is a private non-profit institution of higher education for men and women in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, operating under ...

Princess Noura University
;Iran * Alzahra University, Tehran ;Sudan * Ahfad University for Women


United Kingdom

Mary Astell advocated the idea that women were just as rational as men, and just as deserving of education. First published in 1694, her ''Serious Proposal to the Ladies for the Advancement of their True and Greatest Interest'' presents a plan for an all-female college where women could pursue a life of the mind. The first college to partially realise Astell's plan was Whitelands College, a women's teacher training college opened in 1841 by the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...
's National Society and since 2004 part of the University of Roehampton. Whitelands was followed by two colleges in London, Queen's College in 1848 and Bedford College in 1849. Queen's College developed into a girls' public school and Bedford College became part of the University of London before merging with another women's college. The first of the Cambridge women's colleges, Girton, which opened in 1869 initially in Hitchin, claims to be the first residential college in Britain to offer degree level education to women. Somerville and Lady Margaret Hall in Oxford opened in 1879. Existing women's colleges: * Murray Edwards College, Cambridge (established 1954, formerly New Hall) *
Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millic ...
(established 1871) Former women's colleges: * Bedford College, London (established 1849, became co-educational 1965) * Bishop Otter College, now University of Chichester (established 1873, became co-educational 1957) * Digby Stuart College, Roehampton University (established 1874, became co-educational 1971) * Froebel College, Roehampton University (established 1892, became co-educational 1965) * Girton College, Cambridge (established 1869, became co-educational 1976) * Hughes Hall, Cambridge (established 1885, became co-educational 1973) * Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford (established 1878, became co-educational 1979) * Royal Holloway, University of London (established 1879, became co-educational 1965) * St Aidan's College, Durham (established 1947, became co-educational 1981) * St Anne's College, Oxford (established 1879, became co-educational 1979) * St Hild's College, Durham (established 1858, merged to form co-educational college 1975) *
St Hilda's College, Oxford St Hilda's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college is named after the Anglo-Saxon Saint, Hilda of Whitby and was founded in 1893 as a hall for women; it remained a women's college until 20 ...
(established 1893, became co-educational 2008) * St Hugh's College, Oxford (established 1886, became co-educational 1986) * St Mary's College, Durham (established 1899, became co-educational 2005) * Somerville College, Oxford (established 1879, became co-educational 1994) * Southlands College, Roehampton University (established 1872, became co-educational 1965) *
Trevelyan College, Durham , motto_English = Truth more readily than falsehood , scarf = , named_for = George Macaulay Trevelyan , namesake = George Macaulay Trevelyan , established = 1966 , principal = Adekunle Adeyeye , vice_principal = I ...
(established 1966, became co-educational 1992) *
Westfield College, London Westfield College was a small college situated in Hampstead, London, from 1882 to 1989. It was the first college to aim to educate women for University of London degrees from its opening. The college originally admitted only women as students and ...
(established 1882, became co-educational 1964) * Whitelands College, Roehampton University (established 1841, became co-educational 1965) *
Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge Lucy Cavendish College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college is named in honour of Lucy Cavendish (1841–1925), who campaigned for the reform of women's education. History The college was founded in 1965 by fe ...
(established 1965, became co-educational in 2020)


United States


Early history

Women's colleges in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
were a product of the increasingly popular private girls' secondary schools of the early- to mid-19th century, called "academies" or "seminaries." According to Irene Harwarth, et al., "women's colleges were founded during the mid- and late-19th century in response to a need for advanced education for women at a time when they were not admitted to most institutions of higher education." While there were a few
coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...
colleges (such as Oberlin College founded in 1833, Lawrence University in 1847, Antioch College in 1853, and Bates College in 1855), most colleges and universities of high standing at that time were exclusively for men. Critics of the girls’ seminaries were roughly divided into two groups. The reform group, including Emma Willard, felt seminaries required reform through “strengthening teaching of the core academic subjects.” Others felt seminaries were insufficient, suggesting “a more durable institution--a women’s college--be founded, among them, Catharine E. Beecher. In her ''True Remedy for the Wrongs of Women'' (1851), Beecher points out how “seminaries could not offer sufficient, permanent endowments, buildings, and libraries; a corporation whose duty it is to perpetuate the institution on a given plan.” Another notable figure was Mary Lyon (1797-1849), founder of Mount Holyoke College, whose contemporaries included
Sarah Pierce Sarah Pierce (June 26, 1767 – January 19, 1852) was a teacher, educator and founder of one of the earliest schools for girls in the United States, the Litchfield Female Academy in Litchfield, Connecticut. The school having been established in ...
(
Litchfield Female Academy The Litchfield Female Academy in Litchfield, Connecticut, founded in 1792 by Sarah Pierce, was one of the most important institutions of female education in the United States. During the 30 years after its opening the school enrolled more than 2 ...
, 1792);
Catharine Beecher Catharine Esther Beecher (September 6, 1800 – May 12, 1878) was an American educator known for her forthright opinions on female education as well as her vehement support of the many benefits of the incorporation of kindergarten into children ...
( Hartford Female Seminary, 1823); Zilpah P. Grant Banister ( Ipswich Female Seminary, 1828);
George Washington Doane George Washington Doane (May 27, 1799 – April 27, 1859) was an American churchman, educator, and the second bishop in the Episcopal Church for the Diocese of New Jersey. Early life and career Doane was born in Trenton, New Jersey. He gradu ...
(St. Mary's Hall, 1837 now called Doane Academy). Prior to founding Mount Holyoke, Lyon contributed to the development of both Hartford Female Seminary and Ipswich Female Seminary. She was also involved in the creation of ''Wheaton Female Seminary'' (now Wheaton College, Massachusetts) in 1834.


Women's College Coalition

The Women's College Coalition is an association of women's colleges and universities (with some observers/participants from the single-sex secondary/
high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
s) that are either two- and four-year, both public and private, religiously-affiliated and secular. It was founded in 1972, at a time in which the "
Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...
", the " Women's Rights Movement", and Title IX, as well as demographic and technological changes in the 1960s brought about rapid and complex social and economic change in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
. These societal changes put increasing pressure of perceived "unpopularity" and "old fashioned" perceptions and opinions placing the concept of " single-sex education" for both women and men on the most drastic downward spiral in its history. Additionally, the landscape of education dramatically changed as many previously all-male high schools (both private/independent and public) along with the colleges, many of which were either forced by official actions or declining attendance figures to become coeducational, thereby offering women many more educational options. At the same time with the similar changes forced on women's institutions, both private and public secondary schools along with the colleges/universities, forced a number of the larger number of girls schools to also coeducate. By the late 1970s, women's enrollment in college exceeded the men's and, today, women make up the majority of undergraduates (57% nationally) on college/university campuses. Women earn better college grades than men do, and are more likely than men to complete college. During the past several years, the Women's College Coalition engaged in research about the benefits of a women's high school and/or college education in the 21st Century. Drawing upon the findings of research conducted by the
National Survey of Student Engagement The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) (pronounced: nessie) is a survey mechanism used to measure the level of student participation at universities and colleges in Canada and the United States as it relates to learning and engagement. ...
(NSSE) and Hardwick-Day on levels of satisfaction among students and alumnae at women's colleges and coeducational institutions, as well as the Association of American Colleges and Universities, NAICU and others, the Coalition makes the case for women's education and women's high schools and colleges to prospective students, families, policy and opinion makers, the media, employers and the general public.


Women's colleges and universities in North America

* Agnes Scott College *
Alverno College Alverno College is a private Roman Catholic women's college in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. History Chartered in 1887 as St. Joseph's Normal School, Alverno became Alverno Teachers College in 1936. It adopted its current name in 1946. Academics Alve ...
*
Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...
*
Bay Path University Bay Path University is a private university in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. Bay Path offers both all-women bachelor's degree programs (both on-campus and online), co-educational master's degree programs (both on-campus and online), an occupation ...
* Bennett College for Women *
Brenau University Brenau University is a private university with its historic campus in Gainesville, Georgia. Founded in 1878, the university enrolls more than 2,800 students from approximately 48 states and 17 foreign countries who seek degrees ranging from assoc ...
* Brescia University College *
Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United ...
* Carlow University *
Cedar Crest College Cedar Crest College is a private liberal arts women's college in Allentown, Pennsylvania. At the start of the 2015-2016 academic year, the college had 1,301 undergraduates (628 traditional age, 673 adult) and 203 graduate students. Men may ...
*
Chatham University Chatham University is a private university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Originally founded as a women's college, it began enrolling men in undergraduate programs in 2015. It enrolls about 2,110 students, including 1,002 undergraduate students ...
* The College of New Rochelle *
College of Saint Benedict The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University are two closely related private, Catholic higher education institutions in Minnesota. The College of Saint Benedict is a women's college located in St. Joseph, while Saint John's Univ ...
* College of Saint Elizabeth * Columbia College * Converse College * Cottey College * Douglass Residential College of
Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...
, (the State University of New Jersey) * Hollins University * Judson College * Lexington College *
Mary Baldwin University Mary Baldwin University (MBU, formerly Mary Baldwin College) is a private university in Staunton, Virginia. It was founded in 1842 as Augusta Female Seminary. Today, Mary Baldwin University is home to the Mary Baldwin College for Women, a resi ...
*
Meredith College Meredith College is a private women's liberal arts college and coeducational graduate school in Raleigh, North Carolina. As of 2021 Meredith enrolls approximately 1,500 women in its undergraduate programs and 300 men and women in its graduate ...
* Midway University *
Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University is a private college in Oakland, California and part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it w ...
* Moore College of Art and Design * Mount Holyoke College * Mount Mary College * Mount St. Mary's College *
Notre Dame of Maryland University Notre Dame of Maryland University is a private Catholic university in Baltimore, Maryland. NDMU offers certificate, undergraduate, and graduate programs for women and men. History The Roman Catholic academic/educational religious congregation ...
, (formerly College of Notre Dame of Maryland) *
Russell Sage College Russell Sage College (often Russell Sage or RSC) is a co-educational college with two campuses located in Albany and Troy, New York, approximately north of New York City in the Capital District. Russell Sage College offers both undergraduat ...
of The Sage Colleges * St. Catherine University *
Saint Mary's College (Indiana) Saint Mary's College is a private Catholic women's liberal arts college college in Notre Dame, Indiana. Founded in 1844 by the Sisters of the Holy Cross, the name of the school refers to the Virgin Mary. Saint Mary's offers five bachelor's d ...
* Salem College * Scripps College *
Simmons College Institutions of learning called Simmons College or Simmons University include: * Simmons University, a women's liberal arts college in Boston, Massachusetts * Simmons College of Kentucky, a historically black college in Louisville, Kentucky * Har ...
* Smith College * Spelman College *
Stephens College Stephens College is a private women's college in Columbia, Missouri. It is the second-oldest women's educational establishment that is still a women's college in the United States. It was founded on August 24, 1833, as the Columbia Female Acad ...
* Sweet Briar College * Trinity Washington University * University of Saint Joseph * Ursuline College * Wellesley College * Wesleyan College * Wilson College *
The Women's College of the University of Denver Colorado Women's College (CWC) was one of eight undergraduate colleges at the University of Denver and the Rocky Mountain Region's only all-women's college. It was formerly the Colorado Women's College before merging with the University of Denver i ...


See also

*'' Gaudy Night'' *
Men's college In higher education, a men's college is an undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institution whose students are exclusively men. Many are liberal arts colleges. Around the world In North America United States In the United States, co-ed ...
*
Men's colleges in the United States Men's colleges in the United States are primarily those categorized as being undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting single-sex institutions that admit only men. In the United States, male-only undergraduate higher education was the norm unti ...
* Mixed-sex education * Single-sex education


References


External links

*
Hands off women's colleges, say Oxbridge students
' *

' - Deepti Priya Mehrotra, boloji.com *

' - Jaya Indiresan, ''The Hindu Business Line'' *

' * ttp://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/st.-mary-of-the-woods-college-1835/ US News&World Report Rankings {{School types
College A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...