Converse College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, is one of the oldest women’s colleges in the United States. The college announced recently that it is considering adding co-educational undergraduate programs as a way to expand enrollment. Currently, undergraduate programs at Converse College are only for women. There are just over 900 women enrolled in the undergraduate college, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Education. The college does offer co-ed graduate and doctoral programs., with enrollments of over 500 students.
“Cultural shifts, population trends, and different expectations for student engagement are prompting more single- gender colleges and universities like Converse to expand enrollment. Currently only 2 percent of female, college-bound high school students will consider a single-gender college”” said Converse College President Krista Newkirk. “Today we began engaging with our students, faculty and staff to get feedback as a strategic recommendation is created for the future.”
The college’s board of trustees will appoint a committee to evaluate different options the school can take to expand enrollment. The committee is scheduled to return a report of their findings to the board before the end of 2019. The committee will also recommend whether to change the name of the educational institution to Converse University.