Timeline of women's colleges in the United States


The following is a timeline of women's colleges in the United States. These are institutions of higher education in the United States whose student population comprises exclusively, or almost exclusively, women. They are often liberal arts colleges. There are approximately 60 active women's colleges in the U.S.
Colleges are listed by the date in which they opened their doors to students.

First and oldest

Many of the schools began as either schools for girls, academies, or as a teaching seminary, rather than as a chartered college. During the 19th century in the United States, "Seminaries educated women for the only socially acceptable occupation: teaching. Only unmarried women could be teachers. Many early women's colleges began as female seminaries and were responsible for producing an important corps of educators."
The following is a list of "oldest" and "first" schools:

Colonial-era schools

was founded as a college in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1849