What Are the Most Important Prestigious Women’s Colleges in 2023?

Since we were young we hear about prestigious women’s colleges, for elementary, middle, and high schools, but did you know that there is also women’s college?

In this article, we discuss What’s Women’s colleges are and why you would want to apply to them. We’ll also go through the What is the most prestigious women’s college in 2023?

Read more: What is the most prestigious women’s college in 2023?

What Are prestigious women’s colleges?

Women’s colleges place a premium on female enrollment and higher education. Many prestigious women’s colleges are liberal arts colleges that specialize in subjects like creative arts, sociology, and literature.

Georgia’s Wesleyan College was the first women’s college to open its doors in 1836. By 1960, there were 230 women’s colleges across the country providing women with higher education opportunities.

Many women’s colleges have closed their doors since the 1960s, leaving fewer than 50 women’s colleges open today. As the demand for single-gender institutions declined, some women’s colleges were forced to shift their educational focus.

1) Saint Mary’s College

Saint Mary’s College, in Notre Dame, Indiana, offers a faith-based education. Saint Mary’s was founded in 1844 and has approximately 1,500 students.

Students at Saint Mary’s benefit from average class sizes of 18 students and a student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1. Registered nursing, social work, biology, and communications are among the most popular academic programs at Saint Mary’s.

Saint Mary’s endowment and donations help to fund campus improvements and research that improve student learning. M. Julie McKinley and Stacy Lynett are two of Saint Mary’s most notable graduates.

2) Spelman College

Spelman College, one of the oldest historically Black prestigious women’s colleges, was founded in 1881. Spelman is located in Atlanta, Georgia, and enrolls over 2,000 students.

Average class sizes at Spelman are about 30 students, with smaller upper-level courses. Some popular academic programs at Spelman College include health services, political science, psychology, and biology.

To showcase its investment in women’s academic achievement, Spelman offers fellowship awards, study abroad programs, and innovative STEM resources. Notable Spelman alumni include Stacey Abrams, Alice Walker, and Keshia Knight Pulliam.

3) Scripps College

Scripps College was established in 1926. Scripps is a private university with more than 100 full-time faculty members. Around 1,000 women major in over 65 disciplines at the Claremont, California, campus. Scripps College has an average class size of 16 students.

Biology, social sciences, and communications are the most popular majors at Scripps College. Scripps College is the only prestigious women’s college in the Claremont Colleges consortium, which consists of seven private institutions that offer academic support and an on-campus community.

The Lappa Center for Leadership supports Scripps students’ academic achievement by offering experiential learning courses, fellowships, grants, and awards. Gabrielle Giffords and Beth Nolan are two notable Scripps alumni.

4) Wellesley College

Henry and Pauline Durant founded Wellesley College in Massachusetts in 1870. Wellesley is a private liberal arts college with approximately 2,400 students.

The average class size is 17-20 students. Wellesley has a graduation rate of 94 percent and students studying in over 50 majors. Students are invited to participate in unique learning opportunities both abroad and across the country through study abroad and intercollegiate exchange programs.

Psychology, political science, and economics are among the most popular academic programs at Wellesley. The Albright Institute and the Wellesley Fund support women’s academic achievements on and off campus.

Wellesley graduates include Hillary Clinton, Nora Ephron, and Madeleine Albright.

5) Barnard College

Barnard College was founded in 1889 as a private institution. Barnard College has over 2,600 students on its New York City campus.

Barnard collaborates with Columbia University, allowing students to take courses, compete in sports, and receive a diploma from both institutions.

73 percent of Barnard’s classes have less than 20 students. Political science, art history, psychology, and literature are among the most popular degree programs at Barnard.

Barnard’s alumni network connects current students to mentorship programming to help them achieve their academic goals. Barnard’s notable alumni include Greta Gerwig, Zora Neale Hurston, and Martha Stewart.

6) College of Saint Benedict

The College of Saint Benedict (CSB) was founded in 1857 to support women who had previously been excluded and disenfranchised.

This one of the private prestigious women’s colleges are located in Saint Joseph, Minnesota, and has approximately 1,700 students enrolled. At CSB, the average class size is 19 students.

Business administration, biology, registered nursing, and psychology are some of the most popular academic programs at the College of Saint Benedict.

CSB has an 85 percent retention and graduation rate, and nearly all students receive financial aid upon acceptance. Through an integrated curriculum model, CSB seeks to end structural inequities and promote purposeful learning in support of women’s academic pursuits.

7) Simmons University

Simmons University was established in 1899 in Boston, Massachusetts. Simmons University has nearly 6,000 students, with 95 percent receiving financial aid.

Simmons has over 50 academic programs with an average class size of 15 students. Kinesiology, registered nursing, and communications are all popular degree programs.

Simmons’ investment in women’s academic achievement is visible in its growth, which has included the addition of more academic programs and leadership initiatives. Gwen Ifill and Margaret Murie are two well-known Simmons alumni.

8) Smith College

Smith College was founded in 1871 in Northampton, Massachusetts. Smith is one of the largest prestigious women’s colleges in the country, with nearly 3,000 students enrolled each year.

Smith College is a member of the Five College Consortium, which expands students’ course options. Smith has over 50 academic programs and a class size of 19 students on average.

Biology, computer science, engineering, literature, and political science are among Smith’s most popular academic programs.

Smith’s honors programming, disability services, and the Spinelli Center for Quantitative Learning all help and invest in students’ academic success. Smith College has produced notable alumni such as Julia Child, Sylvia Plath, and Gloria Steinem.

9) Bryn Mawr College

Bryn Mawr College was founded in 1885 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Bryn Mawr has over 1,600 students and an 8-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio.

Bryn Mawr College offers over 35 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in social work, social research, and the arts and sciences.

Psychology, political science, mathematics, and literature are all popular undergraduate programs. Bryn Mawr College collaborates with Haverford College, Swarthmore College, and the University of Pennsylvania to support students’ academic achievements.

Bryn Mawr’s Q Project focuses on quantitative skill development, enhancing the experiential learning practices of many courses. Katherine Hepburn and Maggie Siff are two of Bryn Mawr’s most famous graduates.

Read more: Top 7 Bachelor’s Degrees of 2023

And there you have it. If you’d like to do more research on one of the prestigious women’s colleges or just universities in general, be sure to check out UniApp.