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Note that “Wesleyan College” is a women’s college in Georgia. It is commonly confused with “Wesleyan University,” a coed LAC in Connecticut. </p>
<p>Whether Mt. Holyoke or Wesleyan College is older depends on your definition. Mt. Holyoke opened in 1837, but it was officially a “female seminary”, and not a degree-granting college, until 1888. Wesleyan College opened in 1839, and did grant degrees, but the curriculum at that time was apparently geared towards women’s vocational training; it was not comparable to college education for men.</p>
<p>The first undisputed college degrees granted to women were by Oberlin (a coed school) in 1841. The first undisputed women’s college was Elmira College in 1855 (now coed), which was the model for the more-successful Vassar College in 1865.</p>