The History and Evolution of Men-Only Colleges in the United States
For many years, higher education in the United States was largely dominated by men. For two centuries after the founding of Harvard University in 1636, there were no full colleges for women. It wasn’t until the establishment of the Georgia Female College (now Wesleyan College) that women had access to higher education. Over time, more women-only colleges were founded, and existing colleges began to embrace coeducation.
From Segregation to Coeducation: A Historical Overview
Historically, most colleges in the United States were gender-segregated. Alfred University in upstate New York, founded in 1836, was an early exception as a co-educational institution. Northwestern University and Washington University in St. Louis followed suit in 1869, becoming some of the first men's colleges to admit women. However, coeducation did not become the norm until much later.
In 1837, Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, the first of the Seven Sisters colleges, was founded. As time passed, more and more schools embraced the idea of coeducation. By 1981, 92% of US colleges and universities were coed, with just 3% of schools all-men and 5% all-women.
Many prestigious schools were slow to adapt. Ivy League schools like Princeton, Dartmouth, and Brown didn’t become coeducational until the late 1960s and early 1970s. Harvard's merger with Radcliffe College in 1977 marked its transition to coeducation. The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) was even later to become coeducational, admitting its first female cadet only after US Supreme Court intervention in 1997.
Connecticut’s Wesleyan University shifted its position on coeducation three times: admitting women beginning in 1872, closing its doors to them in 1912, and going coeducational again in 1972.
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The Decline of All-Male Colleges
There are a handful of reasons why there are so few all-male colleges in the US, but the most notable one is economics. Today, women compose a larger percentage of undergraduate students; since the 1981-82 academic year, women have received more bachelor’s degrees than men. Currently, women receive 57% of the bachelor degrees awarded by US colleges and universities.
In addition to the financial benefits of coeducation, the other reason for the disappearance of all-male schools was cultural. Many colleges and universities began valuing their campuses as places where people from different ethnicities, religions, financial means, etc. The country’s more progressive values also played a role in the diminishing number of all-male schools; as Andrea Hamilton notes in her book A Vision for Girls: Gender, Education, and the Bryn Mawr School, “From the perspective of reformers, the remaining male-only institutions were bastions of male privilege and power.
Notable Examples of Men's Colleges
As of 2024, there are three private, non-religious, four-year, all-male college institutions in the United States. Despite the trend toward coeducation, some all-male colleges have persisted, offering unique educational environments.
- Hampden-Sydney College: Founded in 1775, Hampden-Sydney is the tenth oldest college in the United States. With Patrick Henry and James Madison among its early Trustees, the college has a long-standing tradition of educating men. Hampden-Sydney College has a 9% higher graduation rate than the national average for men. The plaque on the front gate of Hampden-Sydney College reads, “Come here as youths so that you may leave as men,”
- Morehouse College: Morehouse College is the nation’s only four year-liberal arts institution that is both historically black and all male. It is notable for its six-year graduation rate, which is often 20% higher than the national average for black men. Morehouse is a member of the Atlanta University Center Consortium, a partnership between Morehouse, Clark Atlanta University, and Spelman College.
- Wabash College: Sports play a big role on the campus of Wabash College: nearly 40% of the student body participates in varsity sports for the school’s “Little Giants,” while 80% plays intramural or club sports. Additionally, Wabash is part of one of college football’s best rivalries-every year they compete against DePauw University for possession of the Monon Bell, a 300-pound locomotive bell.
Men's Colleges Within Larger Institutions
A few men's colleges exist as components of a larger co-educational institution or partnership. Some universities separate their undergraduate students into individual, gender-conscious colleges.
- Yeshiva University: Yeshiva University oversees the all-male Yeshiva College as well as the Stern College for Women. The premier Jewish institution of higher education in the US, Yeshiva University provides students with a comprehensive education through its dual curriculum, under which students pursue Jewish studies along with a full program of liberal arts, sciences, and business classes.
Partnerships Between Men's and Women's Colleges
There is also the type of men's colleges that are formally independent but have close academic relationships with women's colleges on adjacent campuses, as is the case of the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University in St. Joseph and Collegeville, Minnesota, respectively. Unlike the single-sex colleges at Yeshiva and Richmond, they are not considered to be two colleges within one larger university, but instead two independent colleges joined in a partnership arrangement. St. St. John’s University (all-male) and its sister school the College of St. Benedictine (all-female) have formed a unique partnership to provide young men and women with a single-sex, liberal arts education grounded in Catholic and Benedictine values and tradition.
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Religious Seminaries
This is not an exhaustive list of Roman Catholic seminaries in the United States, but instead only includes institutions that are confirmed to offer degrees exclusively to men.
- St. St.
- Mount St. St.
- Pope St. St. John Vianney College Seminary (St.
- Kenrick-Glennon Seminary (Shrewsbury, St. St. St. St.
- The College Seminary of the Immaculate Conception at St. St. St.
- Saint Joseph Seminary College (St.
- Mount Angel Seminary (St.
- Byzantine Catholic Seminary of Ss. St.
- St.
The Enduring Value of Men's Colleges
In spite of shifting values and ideals, many believe that not only is there a place for men’s-only colleges, but that there is an increasing need for them as men fall behind women academically. A 2011 report on the gender gap in education by NBC news noted that women dominate high school honor rolls and make up more than 70% of class valedictorians. All-male colleges offer some men the opportunity to attend an institution that may be personally and intellectually right for them. More importantly, they can help bridge some of the challenges facing today’s male students.
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