Top Women’s Colleges in the United States

Compared to the past, the number of women’s colleges today is significantly high. Many of them still live up to their initial mission, while others mix different programs and admit male students in some, too. If you’re looking at a girl college to enroll in, there are plenty of options to choose from. However, when it comes to college, there are plenty of factors you must consider when making this life-altering decision. According to the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, students consider four factors as the most important in choosing a college to attend. These factors include the overall cost, possible financial aid offers, the academic reputation of the institution, and the success of the college’s graduates after they obtain their degree.

Based on all these, I’ve narrowed the choices down to a short women’s college list you should definitely be looking into. Here are your best options for women’s colleges in 2019:

1. Mills College:

California’s Mills College was first founded back in 1852. The current campus can be found in Oakland and takes around 135 acres, making it a big educational institution for women. Thanks to the many accolades for academic quality and value, this is considered to be one of the top women’s colleges in California and the US.

The Mills College has a student and faculty ratio of 12:1. Their class size has an average of 16 students, and the college was recently awarded the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society award.

2. Agnes Scott College:

Located in Decatur, Georgia, this college has one of the most beautiful campuses and residential living quality known in the US. There’s a pretty robust honor code, a student and faculty ratio of 10:1, and a rather diverse student body. If you choose to study there, you’ll definitely immerse yourself in a beautiful, diverse culture. Also, it is a much cheaper option than most colleges you’ll find in this list, and for no less than $10,000.

3. Spelman College:

The Spelman College in Atlanta is a historically Black college in an urban location. This gives its students access to resources found in the Atlanta University Center and other historically Black colleges like the Interdenominational Theological Center, Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse School of Medicine, and Morehouse College. The focus of this college is primarily set on liberal arts, and it is considered one of the best schools for social mobility and African Americans.

4. Mount Holyoke College:

Mount Holyoke College is one of the colleges in the group called the ‘seven sisters’. It’s the oldest of the seven and currently a member of the Five College Consortium together with the Smith College, Umass Amherst, Amherst College, and Hampshire College.

If you choose this, you can register for any course at any of these fine institutions. This gives you more choice than in other campuses and colleges, though Mount Holyoke is by far the most popular of the group. Their campus is considered the most beautiful campus in the country thanks to its lakes, botanic gardens, waterfalls, and even horseback riding trails.

Thankfully, this is also one of the colleges that are test-optional. So, if you were searching for all-girl colleges near me that require no SAT or ACT for admission, this is definitely one good choice. Basically, all you have to do here is make the decision, apply, enroll in the college, and do your homework within the deadline they set for you. There’s no need for frustrating preparations and tests to get you there.

5. Sweet Briar College:

As the name tells you, Sweet Briar College is located in Sweet Briar in Virginia. Its big size of 3,250 acres is only one of the things that put it in this list. This popular college is known for its strengths in the sciences and liberal arts, as well as the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society award.

By choosing this college, you can also get a chance at their junior-year programs in Spain and France. The student and faculty ratio here is 9:1, which is rather impressive.

6. Stephens College:

Stephens College is the second oldest college for women in the country. It was founded in 1833 with the main focus on liberal arts. Nowadays, they have some really popular programs in health, business, the performing arts, and other pre-professional academic areas.

You can find this college in Columbia in Missouri alongside Columbia College and the University of Missouri.

7. Columbia College:

We’ve already mentioned the Columbia College, which is yet another popular choice among female students. It’s a private college in Columbia with a vision called ‘the four C’s’. These C’s include courage, confidence, commitment, and competence. The investments of Columbia in women students can be seen through the Institute for Leadership and Professional Excellence. Because of this, students get many opportunities for coaching and career advising, internships, mentoring, and service-learning. Moreover, the college has programs that offer a choice between over thirty majors. Their class sizes have a student and faculty ratio of only 11:1, which definitely adds toward their goal of a more student-centered education approach.

8. Converse College:

The Converse College is found in South Carolina in the Spartanburg area. The undergraduate programs are for women only, but it also has coeducational summer, online, and graduate programs.

This college puts an emphasis on experiential learning, which means that it gives students many opportunities for community service, research, internships, and leadership development. Thanks to the numerous academic programs that are available there, students can choose double majors if they wish so.

If you are a woman of 24 or older, you can get Converse education at a reduced fee. Also, the application process is much simpler this way.

9. Scripps College:

Based in Claremont, the Scripps College has around 950 students, all women. People know its location as the ‘city of trees and Ph.D.’s, making this one of the best colleges you could attend.

For those who do not know this, Claremont is located 35 miles from downtown Los Angeles. The campus is 32 acres long and is magnificent. If you enroll there, you will start with their Core Curriculum in Interdisciplinary Humanities and can cross-register to take different courses at any of their two colleges. Moreover, there’s a baccalaureate program that lets students prepare for dental, medical, and veterinary school.

10. Alverno College:

Alverno College is a Roman Catholic liberal arts college in Milwaukee. They have evening and weekday programs for women and graduate programs that are coeducational. Right now, they have over 2500 students who choose between their 60 undergraduate and 4 graduate programs.

Despite the affiliation of the college with the Church, there are 19 other denominations represented within the student body of the college.

11. Mount Mary University:

The University Mount Mary was founded in 1913. The School Sisters of Notre Dame created this university of Catholic liberal arts in Wisconsin. Today, it serves 1200 undergraduate females. Their graduate program is available to both genders and currently has around five hundred graduates.

12. Brenau University Women’s College:

Brenau University is located in Gainesville in Georgia. It has both undergraduate and graduate schools in addition to the Women’s College. They have degree programs on-campus and online, while students can select courses at different Brenau campuses in South and North Atlanta, Kings Bay, or Augusta.

13. Saint Mary’s College:

Saint Mary’s College is a Catholic liberal art college in Notre Dame in Indiana. They have around 1600 undergraduates studying at the campus at this point, choosing between their many study programs. When they graduate, students can choose to pursue a Master study in Speech-Language Pathology or Data Science. Ph.D. students can study Nursing Practice.

All these choices include an online, on-campus, or hybrid format option. They can also participate in clubs and sporting events at the University of Notre Dame which is nearby.

14. Notre Dame of Maryland University:

This university was founded back in 1873 as a liberal art, Catholic college in Baltimore. They have an undergraduate program for women only, but also part-time programs for both genders.

The NDMU is the only female college in Maryland, which makes it a great spot to learn art, foreign languages, behavioral neuroscience, and philosophy for those seeking for a women’s college.

15. Cedar Crest College:

Cedar Crest College is yet another women’s college, but they admit men students to attend their evening classes. It is located in Allentown in Pennsylvania and is one of the very first women’s colleges in the US. They offer non-traditional and graduate education through their co-educational School of Adult and Graduate Education.

16. St. Catherine University:

Popular as St. Kate’s, this private university is a very popular institution for both its undergraduate and associate programs. Their undergraduate programs are available to women only, while the graduate programs are coeducational. You can choose between 100 fields of study and select between their four schools. The schools are School of Humanities, Arts and Sciences; School of Business and Professional Studies; Henrietta Schmoll School of Health; and the School of Social Work.

17. Simmons College:

One clothing manufacturer founded the Boson’s Simmons College back in 1899 with the goal to offer undergraduate study opportunities to young women. Nowadays, it also has coeducation graduate programs and 50 undergraduate majors available. At this point, this is the only MBA program for women only in the US.

18. Ursuline College:

The Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland founded the Ursuline College in 1871 in Pepper Pike in Ohio. There are currently over 30 undergraduate degree programs for females only and the college admits around 700 students every year. They also have eleven graduate programs and one Doctorate program for a Nursing Practice degree.

The campus is 112 acres long and located just 10 miles outside of Cleveland. It’s known for its programs in teaching, nursing, and art therapy.

19. Barnard College:

Located in Manhattan, this private liberal arts college for women is yet another of the Seven Sisters colleges we mentioned above. They partner with Columbia University, which means that students have access to their resources, too.

The focus of this college is to address gender issues and empower women to face their life challenges. They have exchange programs through Julliard, the Manhattan School of Music, and Columbia.

20. Meredith College:

Meredith College is located in Raleigh in North Carolina and has undergraduate programs that 2000 women choose every year. Their graduate programs are coeducational and include only around 300 women and men. Right now, this is the biggest undergraduate college for women in the southeast of the United States. It has over 80 undergraduate majors and 16 certificate and graduate programs.

21. Smith College:

Smith College is located in Northampton and is a women’s private liberal arts college. Their undergraduate programs combine over a thousand different courses and 50 areas of study. The college has an open curriculum, which means that its students can explore more than one field of interest at the same time.

This is one more of the Seven Sisters colleges, and the biggest one. It also has a master’s program option at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, as well as special programs like the Smith Program at the Smithsonian Institute, The Poetry Center, and the Smith Scholars program.

Final Thoughts

Have you chosen a college you wish to attend? Do not rush this. The decision of what program you’ll choose or what college you’ll study in can have a big effect on your future. Therefore, consider your options and choose a college based on your needs and priorities. All the colleges in this list are highly rated among students and the academic community so, as long as you follow your dreams, you cannot go wrong.