Discrepancies - Oldest Womens College?

College Search & Lists
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<p>I was wondering what the official oldest women’s college was? Salem College claims to be the oldest college dedicated to women, founded in 1722. On the Salem web site it says this” Today, the American Council on Education in Washington, D.C. ranks Salem College as the oldest women’s college in the nation by founding date and the 13th oldest college overall.” But Mt Holyoke also claims the honor, being founded in 1837. Along with Mt. Holyoke, Wesleyan College also vouches for the title, founded in 1836. So this quagmire has gotten me confused. Which one really is the oldest?</p>

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From Salem College’s website.</p>

<p>So it wasn’t established as a college until 1890, after Mt. Holyoke. While it might have been a women’s school earlier, it doesn’t count for the title of oldest “college”.</p>

<p>Wesleyan isn’t even in the running: “The earliest Wesleyan students were all male, primarily Methodist, and almost exclusively white. From 1872 to 1912, Wesleyan was a pioneer in the field of coeducation, admitting a limited number of women to study and earn degrees alongside the male students.” It was never dedicated to women (and it stopped admitting women in 1912, and didn’t start again until 1968).</p>

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<p>You’ve got the wrong Wesleyan, Chedva. </p>

<p>Some historians do, indeed, consider Wesleyan (the one in Georgia) to be first woman’s college (1836).</p>

<p>Salem can claim to be older, but at that time it wasn’t offering higher degrees.</p>

<p>Mt. Holyoke was originally a female seminary. Was it offering bachelor’s degrees at that time? I’ll have to go look that up, because the same historians who give Wesleyan credit claim the first Northern college for women was in Illinois, founded in 1849.</p>

<p>Remember at the time these were founded, not a lot of women were getting what we’d think of as a high school education. So some of them may have been more like secondary schools (which is entirely appropriate–but calls into question who gets to be ‘first’).</p>

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<p>I though it was Wellesley.</p>

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<p>Wellesley was chartered in 1870, started offering classes in 1875 (which is when Smith did). That’s after Vassar & Hunter. It was known as having the first scientific laboratories open to women, however.</p>

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<p>Which is “first?” It’s going to depend on how you define “first”. Some possible candidates:</p>

<p>(1) Mt. Holyoke opened in November 1837 as a “female seminary” (not as a “college”). It may have been the first women’s school that offered higher education comparable, in rigor and content, to men’s. But Mt. Holyoke was not legally a “college” until 1888, so it did not officially offer college degrees before then.</p>

<p>(2) Wesleyan College (in Georgia) was legally chartered in 1836, opened in 1839, and began granting degrees in 1840. It was the first official “college” for women. However, there is some question as to whether the education and degrees that it offered were really comparable to men’s.</p>

<p>(3) Elmira College, opened 1855, was originally established as a women’s college. Some regard Elmira as the first women’s college to grant degrees that were comparable to those for men. </p>

<p>(4) Oberlin College started admitting women into its college courses in September 1837, before any of these other schools, but it was coed, not a women’s college. Its first coed class graduated in 1841. </p>

<p>(5) Bryn Mawr, opened 1885, was the first women’s college to offer graduate degrees.</p>

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<p>OOPS! Sorry about that! Hey, at least I got the right Salem!</p>

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<p>Thanks you all your help!</p>