Yes, I’m aware of some of those schools. Part of the reason btw is for Liberal Arts schools if they hit a 60/40 Female/Male ratio they start to die. Men don’t want to go there and neither do women on average and they become a niche. Problem is the market can only bear so many niche schools. It’s also why many of them have created multiple new sports or expanded what they have (Lacrosse is a good example) so they can offer more minor scholarships to get males to attend.
Men tend not to have the same issue, especially in STEM. They are less concerned with how many women attend. The information I have above comes from those who attend NACAC btw.
I have no issue with the concept being applied equally but the issue at those schools is very different. Personally I think they are short sighted but I don’t envy that position, we are likely to see a lot of LAC’s fold in the next few years as they are fighting for survival. MIT is not. It is the best Engineering school in the world with a monster endowment and has the cream of the crop to choose from to attend.
It will be interesting to see how the issue evolves. For now most think sex discrimination is fine. At least MIT is private so they have some justification to make up whatever rules they want. I guess we will see if they do get a lawsuit and what the result might be.
I also think this hurts MIT more than the students it rejects long term. Those students will have other great opportunities and many will so on to great things, they just will do it after attending another school.