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Many of the schools began as either school for girls,academies (which during the late 18th and early 19th centuries was the equivalent of secondary schools), or asa teaching seminary (which during the early 19th century were forms of secular higher education), rather than as a chartered college. During the 19th century in the United States, "Seminaries educated women for the only socially acceptable occupation: teaching. Only unmarried women could be teachers. Many early women's colleges began as female seminaries and were responsible for producing an important corps of educators."[2]
The following is a list of "oldest" and "first" schools, by the date that they opened for students:
1742:Bethlehem Female Seminary, (nowMoravian University) was the second girls' school, after Ursuline Academy. It became the Moravian Seminary and College for Women in 1807 and later merged with nearby schools to become the coeducational Moravian College in 1952.
1772:Salem College,North Carolina was formed as the Little Girls' School by theMoravian Single Sisters and then renamed as the Salem Female Academy. It is the oldest women's educational institution to be in continuous operation.[3][4]
1787:Young Ladies' Academy of Philadelphia was the first government-recognized institution established for women's higher education in the United States.
1803:Bradford Academy (later renamed Bradford College) was the first academy inMassachusetts to admit women. The first graduating class had 37 women and 14 men. It closed in 2000.
1821: Clinton Female Seminary was established inClinton, Georgia. It merged into Georgia Female College (nowWesleyan College inMacon, Georgia) which was granted a charter by theGeorgia General Assembly in 1836 that specifically designated the college's purpose as a degree-granting institution of higher learning for the exclusive benefit of female students. It opened in 1839 and awarded the first-known baccalaureate degree to a woman in 1840.
1832: The Linden Wood School for Girls (nowLindenwood University) was the first institution of higher education for women west of theMississippi River. It became coeducational in 1970.
1833: Columbia Female Academy (nowStephens College) was originally established as an academy for both high school and college-aged women. It later became a four-year college. It is the second-oldest female educational establishment that is still a women's college.
1837: Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (nowMount Holyoke College) is the first and oldest of theSeven Sisters. It was chartered in 1836 and is the oldest school established from inception as an institution of higher education for women (teaching seminary) that is still in operation as a women's college.
1838:Judson College for Women was in Marion, Alabama. It was intended as an institute of higher learning from its inception. It was the fifth-oldest women's college in the U.S. when it announced its closure in 2021.[1]
1842: Valley Union Seminary (nowHollins University) is the oldest chartered women's college in Virginia.
1845: Limestone College inGaffney, South Carolina was the third private college and first women's college in South Carolina. It became fully coeducational in 1970. The college closed due to financial uncertainty and low student enrollment in 2025.
1851: Auburndale Female Seminary (nowLasell College) was a private institution founded by Edward Lasell. It became the first "successful and persistent"junior college in the U.S. and the first junior college for women. It began offering four-yearbachelor's degrees in 1989 and became coeducational in 1997.
1851: Tennessee and Alabama Female Institute (laterMary Sharp College) was the first women's college to grant college degrees to women that were the equivalent of those given to men. The college closed due to financial hardship in 1896.
1851: College of Notre Dame (nowNotre Dame de Namur University) was the first women's college in California and the first in the state authorized to grant baccalaureate degrees to women. The university is now coeducational. It became a graduate school in 2021.
1853: Beaver Female Seminary (nowArcadia University) started inBeaver, Pennsylvania, and later moved toJenkintown, Pennsylvania. It admitted boys for a short time at the turn of the 20th century before returning to an all-women's school. By 1907, its name had changed to Beaver College. It moved to its current location inGlenside, Pennsylvania in 1962. In the fall of 1972, the college became coeducational. It changed its name in July 2001, becoming Arcadia University.
1853: Mt. Carroll Seminary (nowShimer College) was a women's seminary started byFrances Shimer. It became coeducational in 1950.
1854: Columbia Female College (nowColumbia College) is located in Columbia, South Carolina. It survived themarch of General Sherman and three campus fires. Its day program is still all-female, but its evening program is coeducational.
1855: Elmira Female College (nowElmira College) is the oldest college still in existence which (as a women's college) granted degrees to women that were the equivalent of those given to men. The college became coeducational in 1969.
1861:Vassar College is one of theSeven Sisters and was established from its inception as a college for women. It became coeducational in 1969.
1867:Cedar Crest College was established in 1867 in the basement of a church. It is now one of the top modern female colleges.[citation needed]
1869:Chatham University is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was established as Pennsylvania Female College and was renamed Pennsylvania College for Women in 1890, and Chatham College in 1955. Chatham gained University status in 2007.
1870:Wilson College is located inChambersburg, Pennsylvania. It was chartered in March 1869 and began instruction in October 1970. It became coeducational in 2014.
1871:Ursuline College was established by the Sisters of Ursuline as a college for women inCleveland, Ohio. Ursuline College is still a women-focused institution with less than 10% men in attendance.
1875:Wellesley College was chartered in 1870 and opened in 1875 as a college for women. It is one of theSeven Sisters and remains a college for women.
1875:Smith College was chartered in 1871 and opened in 1875 as a college for women. It is one of theSeven Sisters and remains a college for women.
1878: Georgia Baptist Female Seminary (now theBrenau University Women's College) was founded inGainesville, Georgia. Despite its name, the college was never formally associated with any church or religious group. It became Brenau College in 1900 and Brenau University in 1992. The university still boasts its robust Women's College on its historic Gainesville campus.
1885:Bryn Mawr College is one of theSeven Sisters and was established as a college for women. The college's mission was to offer women rigorous intellectual training and the chance to do original research, a European-style program that was then available only at a few elite institutions for men. The college established undergraduate and graduate programs widely viewed as models of academic excellence in the humanities and the sciences, elevating standards for higher education nationwide.
1893: the Woman's College of Frederick (nowHood College) was established when the Potomac Synod purchased the building and equipment from the failing Frederick Female Seminary in Frederick, Maryland to move the women's department from Mercersburg College in Pennsylvania to a spot below the Mason-Dixon Line.
1895: College of Notre Dame of Maryland (nowNotre Dame of Maryland University) was the first Catholic women's college in the U.S. to offer a four-year baccalaureate degree.
1727:Ursuline Academy in New Orleans, Louisiana is the oldest Catholic school and the oldest school for women in the United States. It now provides primary and secondary education for girls.
1772: Little Girls' School (nowSalem College) inWinston-Salem, North Carolina was originally established as a primary school. It later became an academy (high school) and finally a college. It is the oldest female educational establishment that is still a women's college and the oldest female institution in theSouthern United States.
1792: Mrs. Rowson's Academy for Young Ladies was inBoston, Massachusetts. Prolific writer and actressSusanna Rowson founded this progressive school for middle-class young women.[7]
1814: Louisburg Female Academy (nowLouisburg College) was founded inLouisburg, North Carolina. It became the Louisburg Female College in 1857. It merged with Franklin Male Academy to form Louisburg College.
1814: Nazareth Academy (nowSpalding University) was founded nearBardstown, Kentucky. It was given degree-granting authority in 1829. It opened its currentLouisville campus in 1920; all instruction moved to Louisville in 1971. It became coeducational in 1973.
1814: Middlebury Female Seminary (nowTroy Female Seminary) was founded byEmma Willard in Middlebury, Vermont. It moved to Troy, New York, and was renamed Troy Female Seminary. It became theEmma Willard School in 1895. It is now a primary and secondary school.
1831: LaGrange Female Academy (nowLaGrange College) was founded inLaGrange, Georgia. It became LaGrange Female College in 1851 and coeducational in 1953
1833: Columbia Female Academy (nowStephens College) was originally established as an academy (high school). It later became a college. It is the second oldest female educational establishment that is still a women's college
1834: Wheaton Female Seminary (nowWheaton College, Massachusetts) was founded with the help ofMary Lyon. Wheaton became a college in 1912 and coeducational in 1987
1841:Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College was founded as an academy for young women in 1841 by a French nun, Saint Mother Theodore Guerin. It is the nation's oldest Catholic liberal arts college for women. In 1846, it was granted the first charter for the higher education of women in the state of Indiana. It conferred its first Bachelor of Arts degree in 1899. It became fully coeducational in 2015.
1841: Academy of the Sacred Heart (nowManhattanville University) was founded in New York City. It became coeducational in August 1971.
1842: Valley Union Seminary (nowHollins University) was established inRoanoke, Virginia as a coeducational school; it became a school for women in 1852. It was renamed Hollins Institute in 1855, Hollins College in 1911, and Hollins University in 1998.
1842: Augusta Female Seminary (nowMary Baldwin University) was founded inStaunton, Virginia. It became the Mary Baldwin Seminary in 1895, Mary Baldwin College in 1923, and Mary Baldwin University in 2016. While the school has had a coeducational adult degree program since 1977 and later added coeducational graduate degree programs, its traditional Residential College, was not open to men until 2017. Its Virginia Women's Institute for Leadership cadet corps remains women-only.
1843: Memphis Conference Female Institute (laterLambuth University) became coeducational in 1923. It closed in 2011; the former Lambuth campus now houses a branch campus of theUniversity of Memphis.
1845: Limestone Springs Female High School (nowLimestone University) was founded inGaffney, South Carolina. It began accepting non-residential male students in the 1920s and became fully coeducational in the late 1960s.
1846: Illinois Conference Female Academy was founded inJacksonville, Illinois. In 1969, it merged with the MacMurray College for Men, forming the coeducational schoolMacMurray College. It closed in May 2020.
1850: Carolina Female College was established inAnson County by an act of the North Carolina legislature. It closed in 1867 for financial reasons.[12]
1851: Christian College (laterColumbia College) was the first women's college west of the Mississippi River to be chartered by a state legislature.[13]
1851:Cherokee Female Seminary is the first institute of higher learning exclusively for women west of the Mississippi River. Along with the Cherokee Male Seminary, this was the first college created by a tribe instead of the United States federal government.
1851: Tennessee and Alabama Female Institute (laterMary Sharp College) was the first women's college to grant college degrees to women that were the equivalent of those given to men. The college closed due to financial hardship in 1896.
1851: Yalobusha Female Institute was later known as the Emma Mercer Institute andGrenada Female College. It closed in 1936 for financial reasons.
1853: Beaver Female Seminary (nowArcadia University) became coeducational in the late 19th century. In 1907, it became Beaver College and enrollment was again limited to women. It became coeducational again in 1973.
1854: Transylvania Female Institute (nowSayre School) inLexington, Kentucky was renamed Sayre Female Institute in honor of its founder in 1855. It was chartered in 1856 to confer collegiate degrees; and continues today as a private coeducational college preparatory school.
1854:Florence Synodical Female College, one of the largest colleges for girls in the South, declined after the establishment of the State Normal School, and closed before the turn of the century.
1855: Elmira Female College (nowElmira College) is the oldest college still in existence which, as a women's college, granted degrees to women that were the equivalent of those given to men. It became coeducational in 1969.
1855: Davenport Female College was inLenoir, NC. It was chartered by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1859. It later became the Davenport College and merged withGreensboro College in 1938.[5]
1858: Susquehanna Female College was inSelinsgrove, Pennsylvania. When it closed in 1872, its students transferred to the Missionary Institute of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, nowSusquehanna University.
1858:Whitworth Female College inBrookhaven, Mississippi became a two-year school associated with Millsaps College in 1928. It ceased operations and merged with Millsaps in 1938 because of financial difficulties.
1866: Baylor Female College (nowUniversity of Mary Hardin–Baylor) was originally the Female Department of Baylor University, founded in 1845. It obtained a charter and separated from Baylor. In 1971, it became the coeducational University of Mary Hardin–Baylor.
1867: Lehigh Female Academy (nowCedar Crest College) is aprivateliberal artswomen's college inAllentown, Pennsylvania. Men may pursue any master's degree, bachelor's degree, certification, or certificate program through evening and weekend study and are welcome to study nursing and nuclear medicine by day.
1867: Home School for Girls (nowSouthern Virginia University) was founded as a secondary school. It added junior college classes in 1922, by which time it was known as Southern Seminary and Junior College. It became coeducational in 1994.
1869: Pennsylvania Female College (nowChatham University) awarded undergraduate college degrees to women that were equivalent to those given to men. The university became coeducational in 2015.
1870:Hunter College was founded in New York City as a women's college. It first admitted male freshmen in 1946.
1870: Martin Female College (nowUniversity of Tennessee Southern) became Martin College in 1908 and went coeducational in 1938. It was sold to the University of Tennessee system in 2021, becoming the University of Tennessee Southern.
1872: St. Mary's Institute (nowMount Mary University) was established by theSchool Sisters of Notre Dame inPrairie du Chien, Wisconsin. In 1913, it introduced a college curriculum, becoming the first four-year Catholic college for women in Wisconsin. It moved to Milwaukee in 1926 and became Mount Mary College in 1929.
1878: Georgia Baptist Female Seminary (now theBrenau University Women's College) was founded inGainesville, Georgia. It was never formally associated with any church or religious group, despite its name. It became Brenau College in 1900 and Brenau University in 1992.
1881: Incarnate Word School (University of the Incarnate Word) was originally chartered as a women's college. It absorbed an all-female secondary school in 1909 and became the College and Academy of the Incarnate Word. After spinning off its secondary school late in the 20th century, it became coeducational in 1970.
1885: The Woman's College of Baltimore (nowGoucher College) was a sister school toJohns Hopkins University. It became Goucher in 1910 and coeducational in 1986.
1886:H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College at Tulane University was the first coordinate women's college within an American university. It closed in 2006; a lawsuit by descendants of the founder lasted until 2011 when the plaintiffs gave up the case.[20][21][22][23]
1888: Women's College of Western Reserve University became Flora Stone Mather College in 1931. It ultimately merged with several other colleges to form theCase Western Reserve University Federation in 1967.
1889: Decatur Female Seminary (nowAgnes Scott College) was founded inDecatur, Georgia. It became the Agnes Scott Institute in 1890 and Agnes Scott College in 1906.
1889: Georgia Normal and Industrial College (nowGeorgia College & State University) is the coordinate college forGeorgia Tech. It awarded its first degrees in 1917 and became coeducational in 1967.
1889: Converse College (nowConverse University) was founded in 1889 in Spartanburg, South Carolina. It gradually transitioned away from single-sex education, adding coeducational graduate and online programs. Its residential undergraduate program became coeducational on July 1, 2021, with the school adopting the University designation at that time.
1891:Baptist Female University (nowMeredith College) was founded inRaleigh, North Carolina. It became the Baptist University for Women in 1891 and Meredith College in 1909.
1893: The Woman's College of Frederick (nowHood College) was founded inFrederick, Maryland. It became coeducational in 2002.
1899: Simmons College (nowSimmons University) was a private women's college in Boston, Massachusetts. Today, its undergraduate program iswomen-focused while its graduate programs areco-educational.
1899: College of Saint Elizabeth (nowSaint Elizabeth University) is a Catholic college that became coeducational in 2020. It achieved university status in 2021.
1901: St. Clara's College (nowDominican University) was renamed Rosary College in 1922. It became coeducational in 1970 and changed its name toDominican University in 1997.
1903: Young Woman's Industrial Club (nowSkidmore College) would become Skidmore College of the Arts in 1911, and then shortened its name to Skidmore College in 1922.[25] It went coeducational in 1971.
1904: College of St. Angela (nowCollege of New Rochelle) was founded by Mother Irene Gill, OSU of theUrsuline Order as the first Catholic women's college in New York. The name was changed to the College of New Rochelle in 1910.
1905: Florida State College for Women (nowFlorida State University) originated from the coeducational West Florida Seminary that was formed in 1851. After multiple name changes, it was converted into a women's college in 1905. The school returned to coeducation in 1947 and changed its name to the current Florida State University.
1908:All Saints' College was anEpiscopal women's college inVicksburg, Mississippi. It began accepting male boarding students as All Saints' Episcopal School in 1971. It ceased operating as a traditional school in 2006. Currently, it provides training toAmeriCorps students.
1908:The State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg: Founded as a junior college, it began awarding bachelor's degrees in 1916, and changed its name three times in its first 30 years. In 1946, when it was known as Madison College, it admitted its first male day students, becoming de facto coeducational, although it would not officially be recognized as a coeducational institution until 1966. In 1976, it adopted its current name James Madison University.
1908: State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Fredericksburg (nowUniversity of Mary Washington) developed as a normal and manual arts school and was later renamed Mary Washington College. It became the coordinate women's college of theUniversity of Virginia (UVA) in 1944. In 1970, UVA and Mary Washington became fully coeducational. The two schools were separated due to changes in mission and geographic distance in 1972.
1908: Oklahoma Industrial Institute and College for Girls (nowUniversity of Science and Arts of Oklahoma) became Oklahoma College for Women in 1912. It became coeducational in 1965 and was simultaneously renamed Oklahoma College of Liberal Arts.[26]
1911:Pine Manor College became coeducational in 2014.Boston College took over it in 2020, with it becoming the Pine Manor Institute for Student Success and now Messina College.
1913:College of Saint Benedict has been partnered with the all-maleSaint John's University since 1955. The two schools have operated a common academic program with fully coeducational classes since 1961. CSB and SJU remain legally and administratively separate, with separate residential facilities and athletic programs.
1914: Westhampton College (nowUniversity of Richmond) was founded as the coordinate college for Richmond College and a component of its growth into the University of Richmond in 1920. Today, the academic operations of the two colleges are merged, but Westhampton College remains the co-curricular program for undergraduate women and curricular women's studies.
1914: Johnson & Wales School of Business (nowJohnson & Wales University) started as a business school for women.
1918: New Jersey College for Women (nowDouglass Residential College) was founded as the coordinate college forRutgers University and became Douglass College in 1955. In 2007, it was merged with the other undergraduate liberal arts colleges at the main Rutgers campus, becoming a non-degree granting unit of Rutgers called Douglass Residential College.
1920: College of Mount St. Joseph (nowMount St. Joseph University) inDelhi, Ohio was founded in 1920 by theSisters of Charity of Cincinnati. Although chartered as a college in 1920, its predecessor institutions had offered two years of college education for females for several decades. It became coeducational in 1986 and adopted its current name Mount St. Joseph University in 2014.
1921: Villa Madonna College (nowThomas More University) was affiliated with the all-male St. Thomas More College. In 1945, it absorbed St. Thomas More College and became coeducational. The school moved to a new campus in 1968, becoming Thomas More College at that time. It became Thomas More University in 2018.
1923: Marymount Junior College (nowLoyola Marymount University) became Marymount College of Los Angeles in 1948 when it began offering bachelor's degrees. It merged with Loyola University of Los Angeles in 1973 to create the coeducationalLoyola Marymount University.
1925: Mount Saint Joseph College for Women (nowBrescia University) was originally located in theDaviess County, Kentucky community of Maple Mount. It opened a coeducational extension branch in nearbyOwensboro. The extension branch eventually grew into its main campus, and the school became coeducational when the two campuses were merged in 1950. It became Brescia College in 1951.
1928: College of Our Lady of the Elms (nowElms College) inPittsfield, Massachusetts was founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph and the Diocese of Springfield as the Academy of Our Lady of the Elms in 1897. It became a college in 1899 and was chartered as a women's liberal arts college in 1927. It became coeducational in 1998.
1941: Mercy College of Detroit (nowUniversity of Detroit Mercy) opened as a women's college and later became coeducational. It merged with the University of Detroit in 1990, creating the University of Detroit Mercy.
Guy-Sheftall, Beverly. "Black Women and Higher Education: Spelman and Bennett Colleges Revisited."The Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 51, No. 3, The Impact of Black Women in Education: An Historical Overview (Summer, 1982), pp. 278–287.
Harwarth, Irene B. "A Closer Look at Women's Colleges." National Institute on Postsecondary Education, Libraries, and Lifelong Learning, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, 1999.
^Lynn, Mary C. (January 1, 2000).Make No Small Plans: A History of Skidmore College. Saratoga Springs, New York State: Skidmore College. pp. 1–20.ISBN978-0615117737.
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