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[quote=Anonymous]For those interested in the evolution and viability of women's colleges.

Growing up in Nigeria, Nathania Amadi dreamed of going to Howard University in Washington. She’d never heard of Mount Holyoke until a college consultant told her about it.

“I was a little terrified of PWIs,” she said, shorthand for “predominantly white institutions.” She wasn’t particularly drawn to the idea of a women’s college, either, but then she saw the financial aid package, “and I was like, ‘whoa.’”

Amadi is now a senior at Mount Holyoke, where nearly a quarter of the student body is international. She’s studying neuroscience when she isn’t campaigning for more bus routes as president of the Student Government Association, or volunteering with the campus chapter of Planned Parenthood.

Amadi’s journey from Lagos to the leafy small town of South Hadley is a testament to the school’s reputation for attracting the best and brightest from around the world — but, even more so, to the power of resources and self-determination.

It’s a tough market for women’s colleges. In the 1960s, there were about 230 across the United States, a number that’s dwindled to 30 or so.

Massachusetts is home to some of the most successful survivors, which have managed to change with the times while preserving their founding ideals of equity and inclusion. The challenge — amid a Trump presidency that’s taking aim at DEI and transgender-inclusive policies — is to stand strong without standing out in a way that draws the glare of the federal government.

It helps that these same schools have always been known for academic excellence, thanks in part to having the economic means to recruit top students who become successful — and generous — alumni.

“At some point, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy,” said Phillip Levine, a professor of economics at Wellesley College who studies the financing and costs of higher education. “Success begets success.”

Founded in 1837, Mount Holyoke is the eldest of the elite colleges that became known as the Seven Sisters. These schools aimed to provide an Ivy League-caliber education to women at a time when such programs were reserved for men.

Today, five of the original Seven Sisters remain women’s colleges: Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke, Smith, and Wellesley. Vassar went coed in 1969, while Radcliffe and Harvard later merged.

Three of those sisters are in Massachusetts, which boasts the most women’s colleges of any state. In all, there are five, including undergraduate programs at Simmons University and Bay Path University.

Wellesley and Smith are both this year celebrating 150th anniversaries. Mount Holyoke is the most gender inclusive, inviting applications from anyone who’s not a cisgender man, while Smith and Wellesley consider anyone who self-identifies as female but do not admit transgender men.

These schools are thriving due to large endowments, aggressive financial aid, active alumni networks, robust international student populations (which bring significant revenue), and evolving admissions policies.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/29/metro/womens-colleges-leadership/[/quote]

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