A new report from Pew Research Center has examined institutional trends at women’s colleges throughout the United States, providing insights into how these colleges’ admissions policies and student enrollment have changed in recent years.
During the mid-twentieth-century, there were over 200 women’s colleges throughout the country. As a result of many becoming co-educational, merging with other institutions, or permanently closing, only 31 remain as of the fall 2022 semester. Many women’s colleges were originally founded with religious affiliations, with at least 12 today retaining their religious ties. Currently, nine women’s colleges are Catholic institutions.
The 31 existing women’s colleges are not concentrated in any one region of the United States. Massachusetts has the largest number of women’s colleges, with five of these institutions located throughout the state, followed by Georgia, which has four women’s colleges. Two women’s colleges are also historically Black institutions: Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia and Bennet College in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Only one women’s college in the country is a public institution: Texas Woman’s University. Because of their public status, TWU cannot reject qualified men on the basis of gender. The other existing women’s colleges are private and can legally restrict admissions based on gender. Additionally, women’s colleges have differing policies on admitting transgender students, with some expanding their policies to include anyone who identifies as a woman, as nonbinary, or as transgender.
While some women’s colleges have experienced recent increases in enrollment, many have experienced significant declines. Since 1998, women’s colleges have seen an overall 40 percent decline in enrollment, dropping from some 112,500 students to 67,300 students in 2022. In comparison, enrollment at all colleges has grown by 28 percent, while enrollment at private, nonprofit colleges has grown by 37 percent over the same time period. Particularly steep declines were found between 2012 and 2022, with enrollment at women’s colleges dropping 18 percent in just 10 years. As of the fall 2022 semester, 94 percent of existing women’s colleges have fewer than 5,000 total undergraduate and graduate students.
This overall decline in enrollment coincides with the dissolution of many women’s colleges. In 1998, there were 64 women’s colleges. Since that time, four permanently closed, one merged with another institution (Mills College was purchased by Northeastern University), and 28 became co-educational. Of the women’s colleges that have gone co-educational since 1998, two closed after their admissions policy changed (Wells College and Notre Dame College of Ohio), and one, Rosemont College, is scheduled to merge with Villanova University in 2027.