| Research Abstract |
This study examines the progress and prospect of women's colleges in the United States. The study consists of the following five parts :
1) Historical overview of the development of women's college in the United States since in inception in the 19th century to 1970's, when "enrollment crisis" forced many women's colleges to face "dead or coed" educational dilemma ;
2) Analysis of the major forces that affected rise and fall of single-sex college education in 1970's and 1980's ;
3) Examination of feminist scholarship that illuminated implications of both gender-sensitive educational ideals in the women's college and "Women Achievers" studies ;
4) Presentation of the current profile of all the women's colleges in the United States as of 1996 in terms of location, denomination, enrollment, student/faculty ratio, competitiveness, tuition, and so on ;
5) Analysis of some of the recent demographic and economic changes that will affect future institutional strategies of women's colleges.
The study concludes that the most eminent strategies many women's colleges are now adopting are :
1) Recruitment of non-traditional students such as adult returning students, transfer students, and so on,
2) Coordinating effort with other colleges through cross-registration, college consortium, and so on,
3) Adoption of innovative curriculum and pedagogy that empowers women students.
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