Men's colleges in the United States are primarily, though not exclusively, 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 until the 1960s. The few remaining well-known men's colleges are traditional independent liberal arts colleges, though at present the majority are institutions of learning for those preparing for religious vocations, primarily in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Jewish religious traditions.
History
editHistorically, most colleges in the United States were gender-segregated. Alfred University in upstate New York was founded in 1836 as a co-educational institution. Northwestern University and Washington University in St. Louis were some of the first men's colleges to begin admitting women, both doing so in 1869.[1][2] However, mixed-sex education did not become the norm until much later. Some colleges, such as Wesleyan University began to admit women in 1872, but abandoned the practice in 1912, when it became all-male once again, and would not admit women again until 1972.[3]
By the mid-1960s to early-1970s, most of the remaining male-only institutions began to admit women at the undergraduate level, including Georgetown University (1969), Princeton University (1969), Johns Hopkins University (1970) and Yale University (1969). Claremont McKenna College, then Claremont Men's College, started admitting women in 1976 after being founded as a men's college for World War II veterans on the G.I. Bill. Haverford College admitted its first female students in 1980 andColumbia College of Columbia University held out even longer, not admitting women until 1983. By that point, most men's colleges had already disappeared from the American academic landscape.
In 1990, Virginia Military Institute (VMI), then still all male, was sued by the U.S. Department of Justice for discrimination. The Department of Justice argued that since VMI was a public institution, it could not prevent women from attending based on gender alone. Due to United States v. Virginia, VMI admitted its first female cadets in 1997.
At Tulane University, Tulane College was for men and H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College was for women. The two merged in 2006 due to the financial devastation to the university after Hurricane Katrina.[1]
Deep Springs College in California, a small two-year school with approximately two dozen students, began admitting women in 2018.[4]
Today
editFour-year men's colleges
editAs of 2024[update], there are three private, non-religious, four-year, all-male college institutions in the United States. These are:
| Name | Location | Year Founded | Number of Students | Endowment Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hampden–Sydney College | Hampden Sydney, Virginia | 1775 | 993 | $258 million |
| Morehouse College | Atlanta, Georgia | 1867 | 2,260 | $186 million |
| Wabash College | Crawfordsville, Indiana | 1832 | 835 | $385.2 million |
In April 2019, Morehouse announced that it would begin admitting transgender men for the first time in 2020, becoming the first standalone all-male college in the U.S. to adopt a policy allowing transgender students.[5]
Two-year men's colleges
editAlthough it now offers associate's degrees, the Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades in Media, Pennsylvania was established as a free vocational school and is usually not considered a traditional men's college although it is a non-denominational independent institution that enrolls no women.[6][7] Taking inspiration from Williamson, the Harmel Academy was opened in 2020 as a Catholic vocational school for men.[8][6]
Counterparts and coordinates
editA few men's colleges exist as components of a larger co-educational institution or partnership. Such arrangements were formerly much more common, but most ended with a merger or with one or both institutions becoming co-educational in the second half of the twentieth century.
As a member of Atlanta University Center, Morehouse has extensive cross-registration and resource sharing with Spelman College (all women) and Clark Atlanta University (coeducational).
Hampden–Sydney provides a female-only guest house on its campus for female visitors.[9]
Some universities separate their undergraduate students into individual, gender-conscious colleges. Yeshiva University oversees the all-male Yeshiva College as well as the Stern College for Women. The University of Richmond has Richmond College for men and Westhampton College for women.[10] In each of these cases, the individual colleges have their own residence systems, advisors, staff, student governments, and traditions separate from their male or female counterpart.
Several cases exist of men's colleges that are formally independent but have close academic relationships with women's colleges on adjacent campuses. 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. Current examples include Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York and College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota.
Christian seminaries
editNon-denominational Christian
editThe Master's Seminary (Sun Valley, California)
The Master's University has a Women’s Ministries Certificate of Achievement that is open both to undergraduate students and lay members of the community, out of a desire to "train women for ministry in accordance with the model set by Titus 2, where older women are called to train younger women."[11]
Roman Catholic
editWhile most Roman Catholic seminaries offer degrees limited to men, often, but not necessarily the MDiv, as of 2024, a number of Roman Catholic seminaries in the United States offer degrees to women, and are thus no longer exclusively colleges for men only. This is not an exhaustive list of Roman Catholic seminaries in the United States, but only includes institutions that are confirmed to offer degrees exclusively to men.
- Conception Seminary College (Conception, Missouri)[12]
- Divine Word College (Epworth, Iowa)
- Mount Angel Seminary (St. Benedict, Oregon)[13]
- Pontifical College Josephinum (Columbus, Ohio)[14]
- Saint John Vianney Seminary (Miami, Florida)
- Saint John Vianney Seminary (St. Paul, Minnesota)
- Saint Joseph Seminary College (St. Benedict, Louisiana)
Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
edit- Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary (Jordanville, New York) - Although the degrees offered by the seminary are only open to men, there is a Certificate of Theological Studies that is open to women.[15]
Ukrainian Greek Catholic
edit- St. Basil College Seminary (Stamford, Connecticut)
Jewish seminaries
edit- Beis Medrash Heichal Dovid (Far Rockaway, New York)[16]
- Beth Hamedrash Shaarei Yosher Institute (Brooklyn, New York)[17]
- Beth Hatalmud Rabbinical College (Brooklyn, New York)
- Beth Medrash Govoha (Lakewood, New Jersey)
- Central Yeshiva Tomchei Tmimim-Lubavitch (Brooklyn, New York)[18]
- Darkei Noam Rabbinical College (Brooklyn, New York)[19]
- Kehilath Yakov Rabbinical Seminary (Brooklyn, New York)[20]
- Machzikei Hadath Rabbinical College (Brooklyn, New York)[21]
- Mesivta Torah Vodaath Seminary (Brooklyn, New York)[22]
- Mirrer Yeshiva Central Institute (Brooklyn, New York)
- Ner Israel Rabbinical College (Baltimore, Maryland)
- Ohr Somayach Tanenbaum Education Center (Monsey, New York)
- Rabbinical Academy Mesivta Rabbi Chaim Berlin (Brooklyn, New York)
- Rabbinical College Beth Shraga (Monsey, New York)[23]
- Rabbinical College Bobover Yeshiva B'nei Zion (Brooklyn, New York)[24]
- Rabbinical College Ch'san Sofer of New York (Brooklyn, New York)[2]
- Rabbinical College of America (Morristown, New Jersey)
- Rabbinical College of Long Island (Long Beach, New York)[25]
- Rabbinical College of Telshe (Wickliffe, Ohio)
- Rabbinical Seminary Adas Yereim (Brooklyn, New York)[26]
- Rabbinical Seminary of America (Flushing, New York)
- Shor Yoshuv Rabbinical College (Lawrence, New York)[27]
- Talmudic University of Florida (Miami Beach, Florida)
- Talmudical Academy of New Jersey (Adelphia, New Jersey)[28]
- Talmudical Institute of Upstate New York (Rochester, New York)
- Talmudical Seminary Oholei Torah (Brooklyn, New York)
- Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
- Telshe Yeshiva-Chicago (Chicago, Illinois)
- Torah Teminah Talmudical Seminary (Brooklyn, New York)[29]
- U.T.A. Mesivta-Kiryas Joel (Monroe, New York)[30]
- United Talmudical Seminary (Brooklyn, New York)
- Yeshiva and Kolel Bais Medrash Elyon (Monsey, New York)
- Yeshiva and Kollel Harbotzas Torah (Brooklyn, New York)[31]
- Yeshiva Beth Yehuda Kollel (Southfield, Michigan)[32]
- Yeshiva Gedolah of Greater Detroit (Oak Park, Michigan)[33]
- Yeshiva College of the Nation's Capital (Silver Spring, Maryland)[34]
- Yeshiva Karlin Stolin (Brooklyn, New York)[35]
- Yeshiva of Nitra (Mount Kisco, New York)
- Yeshiva of the Telshe (Riverdale, New York)
- Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon Chabad/West Coast Talmudical Seminary (Los Angeles, California)
- Yeshiva Shaar Hatorah (Kew Gardens, New York)
- Yeshiva Shaarei Torah of Rockland (Suffern, New York)
- Yeshiva Toras Chaim Talmudical Seminary (Denver, Colorado)
- Yeshivas Novominsk (Brooklyn, New York)[36]
- Yeshivath Beth Moshe (Scranton, Pennsylvania)
- Yeshivath Viznitz (Monsey, New York)[37]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "About: 150 Years of Women - Northwestern University". www.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 2024-06-14.
- ^ "Women at Washington University: Introduction". Archived from the original on 2010-08-02. Retrieved 2010-01-26. (Women admitted to law school in 1869; first undergrad in 1870)
- ^ "Wesleyan University:A Brief History". Archived from the original on 2009-03-30. Retrieved 2010-02-19.
- ^ Jaschik, Scott (2018-07-23). "Deep Springs College -- After 7-Year Struggle -- Admits Women". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
- ^ "All-male historically black Morehouse College will admit transgender men". The Guardian. Associated Press. April 13, 2019. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
- ^ a b Hess, Frederick (2019-10-21). "Straight Up Conversation: A Tuition-Free, Purpose-Driven, Coat-and-Tie Trade School". Education Next. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
- ^ "10 Minutes Away From Swarthmore, America's Finest Vocational School - The Phoenix". 2014-10-23. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
- ^ West, Perry. "New Michigan vocational school combines Catholic education, skilled trades". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
- ^ "Hampden-Sydney College Interactive Campus Map". map.hsc.edu. Retrieved 2024-06-14.
- ^ "Westhampton College - University of Richmond". wc. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ "Women's Ministries Certificate of Achievement". The Master's University. Retrieved 2024-06-14.
- ^ "Programs Offered". Conception Seminary College. Retrieved 2024-06-14.
- ^ "Admissions". Mount Angel Abbey. Retrieved 2024-06-14.
- ^ "Application". Josephinum. Retrieved 2024-06-14.
- ^ "Certificate in Theological Studies (Independent Study)". hts.edu. Retrieved 2024-06-14.
- ^ "Heichal Dovid". www.bm-hd.com. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ "Beth Hamedrash Shaarei Yosher – Beth Hamedrash Shaarei Yosher". Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ "Central Yeshiva Tomchei Tmimim Lubavitz". Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ "Darkei Noam Rabbinical College: Tabular Data | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ "Address". www.kehilathyakov.com. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ "Machzikei Hadath Rabbinical College – Advanced Talmudic studies". Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ "Yeshiva Torah Vodaath". Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ "Rabbinical College Beth Shraga". Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ "College Scorecard". collegescorecard.ed.gov. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ "Rabbinical College of Long Island". Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ "Parchment Exchange - Leader in eTranscript Exchange". www.parchment.com. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ "HOME". shor-yoshuv. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ "Talmudical Academy of New Jersey – Adelphia, New Jersey". Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ "Torah Temimah Talmudical Seminary". Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ "Document". utamesivta.org. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ "Yeshiva and Kollel Harbotzas Torah - The Princeton Review Grad School Listings". www.princetonreview.com. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ "Divisions". www.yby.org. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ "College Scorecard". collegescorecard.ed.gov. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ "YCNC, YGW, Jewish Studies College Program, BTL". www.yeshiva.edu. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ "Yeshiva Karlin Stolin". Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ "Yeshivas Novominsk – Brooklyn, NY". Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ "Yeshivath Viznitz – Excellence in Torah Study". Retrieved 2024-06-13.