Are womens colleges a viable, even a desirable choice for college-bound women in 2008?
That is the question at the heart of our documentary. Why would a young woman, with such a vast array of collegiate choices before her, choose a single-sex environment? Why, we ask, should she? The landscape of higher education has changed drastically since most women’s colleges were founded. Starting in the 1960s, the vast majority of traditionally all-male colleges began admitting women. Conversely, the support for and popularity of single-sex institutions of higher education has waned. As women’s movement took hold in the 1970s and beyond, more and more young women felt that a women’s college education was outdated and unnecessary. Enrollment in these schools declined and, because of this, many women’s colleges throughout the country have been forced to go co-ed in order to endure or, in the worst-case scenario, close their doors entirely. In 1960, there were 200 women’s colleges; today there are less than 60. Only 3% of young women taking the SATs indicate that they are willing to
