ST. MARY-OF-THE-WOODS, Ind. — A private western Indiana liberal arts college open to women-only for 175 years will enroll its first male undergraduates on campus this fall.
St. Mary-of-the-Woods College announced Tuesday that it will begin accepting applications from men immediately as commuter students for this fall and that it expects to admit men as residential students in the fall of 2016. Currently, the college enrolls both men and women for online and graduate programs only.
School President Dottie King says key to the decision are national statistics showing that less than 2 percent of college-age women will consider a single-gender institution.
The school says its board of trustees voted unanimously to become fully coeducational on May 1. It had been considering such a move for the past year.
