For 111 years, the School of Arts & Sciences at The College of New Rochelle has been open exclusively to women.
Beginning next fall, men will be able to study alongside them.
The college announced that its board of trustees unanimously approved the decision to make the program coeducational, allowing for a greater number of enrollment applications. The college”™s three other schools ”“ nursing, new resources and graduate ”“ have admitted both women and men since the 1970s.
Board of Trustees Chair Elizabeth LeVaca said board members considered enrollment trends, market research and feedback from more than 1,000 members of the campus community in its decision.
“This decision was made after very careful thought, evaluation of several key factors, and above all with a great reverence for the college”™s mission,” LeVaca said. “Throughout the process, the feedback received was clearly supportive of this new model for the School of Arts & Sciences.”
Citing figures that show less than 5 percent of high school women will apply to single-gender colleges, College of New Rochelle officials said the higher education landscape has “changed dramatically” since its founding as an all-women’s school in 1904. The School of Arts & Sciences offers more than 20 degree programs in art, biology, business, chemistry, communication arts, economics, English, environmental studies, French, history, interdisciplinary studies, math, philosophy, political science, psychology, religious studies, social work, sociology and Spanish.
College President Judith Huntington said the school is being supported by $14 million in federal grants to improve its science labs, STEM programs, library services and health profession programs.
“We are eager to have this opportunity to do the same for many more women and now men,” Huntington said. “This change is just part of a comprehensive strategic plan to advance and expand our academic programs, technology and facilities.”
The school also said its men”™s basketball and swimming teams will become official NCAA Division III athletic programs next fall. Its men”™s volleyball and soccer club teams are also expected to be bumped to the varsity level in the fall of 2017.
With its main campus in New Rochelle, the school also has locations in Yonkers, Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx.
