How Colleges and Students Differ: Colleges with Special Affiliations

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Some colleges have historical affiliations that appeal to students because of their distinctive environment.

Religious Affiliations

Many fine institutions in the United States have a religious affiliation. Perhaps best known are the Jesuit colleges, such as Georgetown University and Boston College. Davidson College was founded by Presbyterians; Brigham Young University is a formal part of the Mormon Church; and Brandeis University has its roots in Judaism. There are hundreds more. Most colleges with religious origins welcome students of all backgrounds, but a majority of the students at those colleges may be affiliated with the founding religion. These colleges differ widely in the extent to which religion is a visible part of everyday campus life.

Although most campuses offer many optional religious organizations and religious services, some students seek a more central role for religion in their daily lives. You need to decide whether the presence or absence of a religious affiliation is a plus, a minus, or a neutral factor for you in choosing a college.

Historically Black Colleges

Known as “historically black,” a number of colleges in the South have traditionally had a student body that is almost exclusively African American. Established when many American universities were not open to African Americans, these colleges continue to provide an important educational option for African American students who would like a college experience in a nurturing African American community. Most, like Howard University, are coeducational, but a few, like Spelman College and Morehouse College, enroll only women or men, respectively. The historically black colleges provide a supportive environment and successfully launch their students on careers of distinction. 

Women’s Colleges

 For most of the twentieth century, some of the best-known colleges in the United States were single sex. By the mid-1970s, however, much had changed. For practical as well as philosophical reasons, almost all formerly all-male colleges opened their doors to women, and colleges that had once been women-only became coed. Yale University, Williams College, and Amherst College are all examples of formerly male-only institutions that are now about 50 percent women. Vassar College, Connecticut College, and Sarah Lawrence College, former women’s colleges, now welcome men, but still have female majorities in their student bodies.

A number of high-profile women’s colleges have elected to remain open to women only, however, and as a group they are an academically strong and attractive option for students who would welcome the kind of supportive environment that a student body comprising only women provides. Women-only colleges include Scripps College, Wellesley College, Mount Holyoke College, Agnes Scott College, Smith College, and a number of others.

A few women’s colleges are part of a formal consortium that allows member colleges to share resources and facilities. Scripps College, for example, is part of the Claremont Consortium, permitting Scripps students to register for courses at the other four member colleges of the consortium, and vice versa. Other colleges have arrangements with individual colleges—Barnard College, for example, has a cooperative arrangement with Columbia University. Bryn Mawr College has a similar working relationship with Haverford College and Swarthmore College. Such arrangements provide students with coeducational experiences while still retaining important elements of a women’s college. Research has documented that alumnae of women’s colleges are more positive about their experiences than alumnae of coed schools. Some major figures in contemporary American life like Hillary Clinton, Diane Sawyer, and Gloria Steinem are graduates of women’s colleges.

More information about women’s colleges can be found at www.womens colleges.org.