Women’s Colleges

Currently, the United States has sixty women’s colleges in twenty-four states. Massachusetts leads the country with eight, with Pennsylvania coming in second with seven.

According to the Women’s College Coalition, graduates of women’s colleges earn an average of $8,000 a year more than women who graduated from coeducational colleges and universities. In addition, they are twice as likely to earn a PhD degree and far more likely to pursue careers in science, math, business and other fields traditionally dominated by males.

Although they represent only 2% of the population of U.S. women with college degrees, graduates of colleges for women represent a third of the women on boards of major American corporations and 20% of the women serving in Congress.

A cross section of notable graduates of colleges for women includes Madeleine Albright (Wellesley), Hilary Clinton (Wellesley) , Katherine Hepburn (Bryn Mawr), Gloria Steinem (Smith), Pearl S. Buck (Randolph-Macon Woman’s College), Barbara Walters (Sarah Lawrence), Diane Sawyer (Wellesley), Helen Keller (Radcliffe), Margaret Meade (Barnard), Paula Zahn (Stephens), Suzanne Vega (Barnard), and Meryl Streep (Vasser).

Women’s Colleges listed by State

ALABAMA

CALIFORNIA

COLORADO

CONNECTICUT

GEORGIA

ILLINOIS

INDIANA

KENTUCKY

MARYLAND

MASSACHUETTS

MINNESOTA

MISSISSIPPI

MISSOURI

NEBRASKA

NEW JERSEY

NEW YORK

NORTH CAROLINA

OHIO

PENNSYLVANIA

SOUTH CAROLINA

TEXAS

VIRGINIA

WISCONSIN