Coeducation is the teaching of males and females together in the same class or school. In many countries, coeducation is uncommon, especially in high school. In the United States, however, most schools are coeducational. A few private schools admit students of only one sex.
Most early schools in the United States enrolled only boys and men. Many people thought women had weaker minds than men and would be disturbed by too much education. During the 1800’s, however, new educational opportunities opened up for girls and women. Oberlin College, founded in 1833 as Oberlin Collegiate Institute, became the first coeducational college in the United States. Several women’s colleges also were established. Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (now Mount Holyoke College) opened as a school for women in 1837. By 1850, it offered a curriculum similar to that of men’s colleges. Vassar College, another early women’s college, was founded in 1861. By the mid-1800’s, a number of high schools had become coeducational. By 1882, public elementary schools had begun to admit both boys and girls.
During the mid-1900’s, most private men’s and women’s colleges became coeducational. They did so primarily to attract more students but also to meet demands made by the women’s rights movement. In addition, government regulations under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 cut off federal funds from schools that discriminated on the basis of sex. Changes in the law and the impact of the women’s rights movement led all institutions to provide equal education for both sexes. However, some women’s colleges, including Mount Holyoke and Smith, chose to remain all-female schools. Officials of these colleges believed women could better develop leadership and other abilities if they did not have to compete with men.
