Most U.S. colleges and universities — some of which were founded before the nation declared independence from Great Britain — were originally established to educate men.
However, during the second half of the twentieth century, many “began to admit women, or merge with a women’s college, or formed a partnership with a women’s college that morphed into a coeducational institution,” Kara Kolomitz, chief operating officer at the all-men Saint John’s University and all-women College of Saint Benedict in Minnesota, wrote in an email. “Consider that the historical systems and structures of academe are rooted in the purpose of educating men — not broad or diverse constituencies.”
Today, only four all-male colleges exist in the U.S., including Saint John’s and three nonreligious schools: Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, Morehouse College in Georgia and Wabash College in Indiana. Private undergraduate colleges and nonvocational public elementary and secondary schools are exempt from Title IX, a federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in education.
[read: Nonacademic Factors to Consider When Choosing a College]
?”Most of education, not just higher education, is coed,” says Hampden-Sydney president Larry Stimpert. “And there’s not a lot of convincing proof out there in my mind that coed is necessarily better for men. We think there’s room in the higher education landscape for a college that’s focused specifically on the development of young men and specifically on all the best that young men can be and do.”
Here’s what prospective college students and their families should know about men’s colleges.
How Men’s Colleges Compare to Coed Institutions
Compared to coed institutions, all-male institutions tend to put more of an emphasis on brotherhood, leadership and character development, experts say.
“Having taught for many, many years at a coed environment, I was used to seeing in group work — it’s the young women in the group who would organize the group,” Stimpert says. “It was the young women who were giving the assignments to people. And the guys get to kind of free ride on all that leadership that the women in the coed environment provide. Here, our guys have to take on that responsibility. … ?I think honor code, code of conduct and this assumption of responsibility is a really big part of the character development.”
Men’s colleges “tend to be schools that run on honor codes, where students are given great responsibility and they’re held to very high standards,” says Wabash president Scott Feller. “We are very concerned here with what students are learning, but we’re also very concerned with their development of virtues that will serve them for the rest of their life.”
Wabash’s honor code, which it calls “the gentleman’s rule,” is: “The student is expected to conduct himself at all times, both on and off campus, as a gentleman and a responsible citizen.”
“We expect that for four years, but we expect it for the rest of their life,” Feller says. “It’s not just a diploma, it’s not just an academic achievement, it’s a high expectation.”
[Read: What to Do for College During Each Summer of High School]
Benefits of Attending a Men’s College
Attending a men’s college is “the road less traveled,” Feller says. “It is for students who are willing to look outside the median of higher education. Oftentimes they are students who really are looking for brotherhood. They’re looking for lifelong friendships. They’re looking to make really close connections with other students.”
Small, private men’s colleges allow for smaller class sizes and opportunities to work closely with faculty members. Single-sex environments also foster a deeper sense of community, experts say.
?”I don’t think you can get that at these large universities — where the professor invites you to his house once a week to share a meal,” says Owen Williams, a rising senior and student body president at Hampden-Sydney. “It’s really a special thing. And one thing that I think is so important at single-sex education schools is the bond you build with your peers. Everyone’s closer, everyone’s more vulnerable and everyone can share what they want to share without having to put on a show. Not that I’m saying that that’s a normal thing, but at the end of the day, it’s all guys — it’s you and your buddies.”
Many single-sex institutions still offer coeducational experiences. Saint John’s is different to the other three men’s colleges due to its partnership with the College of Saint Benedict. Enrolled students have access to facilities and can take classes at both campuses. However, they live on their respective campuses.
“This bold model that we call ‘strong integration’ allows both men and women to preserve pieces of their historically beloved traditions, rituals and spaces but experience other parts of campus life in contemporary, coed, forward-thinking ways,” Kolomitz says.
Morehouse, an Atlanta-based historically Black college, is part of a consortium. Students can cross-register for courses at any member institutions of the Atlanta Regional Council for Higher Education, including the neighboring all-women Spelman College and coed Clark Atlanta University.
[See: Parents: 10 Ways to Help Your Teen With the College Decision.]
Is Enrolling in a Men’s College Right for You?
A single-sex college is not for every student, Feller notes, but “part of the strength of American higher education is the diversity of institution types and that there should be colleges for women to attend that have as their mission to educate young women, and similarly for young men.”
While coed and single-sex campuses may physically look the same, the environment often differs, so experts encourage potential students to visit a men’s college to better understand day-to-day campus life.
“Very few high school students are attending single-sex high schools,” Feller says. “There are single-sex high schools, but it’s a small piece of the pie. So I think students need to come to visit so that they can understand what it is about the community, what it is about the ways that the students are learning. They need to come and experience a classroom.”
Visiting students “might walk through the library or the campus center and see guys helping each other, working together in a spirit that combines both competition and support for each other,” he says.
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A Guide to All-Male Colleges originally appeared on usnews.com
