Let’s set the record straight — women-only universities are far from the outdated myths that often surround them.
For example, contrary to the stereotype that everyone at women-only universities identifies as female, these campuses are home to diverse gender identities, including nonbinary, genderqueer, genderfluid, and transgender individuals.
Another common misconception is that women-only universities are conservative. Natasha Badhwar, who studied at Delhi University’s Indraprastha College for Women (IPCW) in New Delhi, India, says otherwise.
“I met the sassiest, most confident women I have ever known at IPCW,” she said in an article for The Tribune.
Although gender-segregated education was seen by her generation as outdated, Badhwar chose IPCW for its Psychology Honours programme, despite warnings from friends and family that it was a “behenji” college.
“Behenji” is a respectful term for a sister, but it also has a derogatory meaning of an uncool, unfashionable sort of woman.
Her experience there turned out to be the opposite.
Free from the male gaze and societal judgments, Badhwar and her friends explored their voices, passions, and identities. They found a sense of liberation and strength in ways they never anticipated.
Women currently dominate higher education enrollment globally, representing nearly 60% to 62% of university students. Source: Nick Souza via Pexels
10 women-only universities and colleges around the world
1. Japan Women’s University
Japan Women’s University, founded in 1901, is the country’s oldest and largest private women’s university.
Dedicated to empowering women, the university cultivates intellectual curiosity, individuality, and untapped potential in its students, equipping them to thrive as independent and socially responsible individuals.
The institution operates across two campuses: Mejirodai in Bunkyō, Tokyo, and Nishi-Ikuta in Tama, Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture. Complementing its higher education offerings, it also manages associated schools, from nursery to high school, creating a variety of learning opportunities.
Notable alumni from this women-only university include Rumiko Takahashi, a Japanese manga artist who has sold over 200 million copies of her work and Kazuyo Sejima, an award-winning architect and co-founder of SANAA (Sejima + Nishizawa & Associates).
In 2010, Sejima was the second woman to receive the Pritzker Prize, which was awarded jointly with Ryue Nishizawa.
2. Seoul Women’s University
Following the Independence Movement in 1919, the Presbyterian Church of Korea recognised the need for higher education for women, grounded in Christian values.
It was then, in 1923, that Seoul Women’s University (SWU) was established. However, due to the oppressive nature of colonial rule, its establishment was met with opposition. It was only in 1960, 37 years later, that the university was approved. In 1961, the university finally opened its doors for the first time.
SWU is home to several notable alumni, such as Eun-Joo Lee (IBM Korea President), Heo Sook-jeong (21st National Assembly Member), Min Hee-Jin (former Creative Director of SM Entertainment, former CBO of Hybe, and former CEO of ADOR). Korean idol group Fromis_9 member Baek Jiheon is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Paedology (Child Studies) at SWU.
Degrees offered at SWU range from business, design (including fashion, visual, and industrial), Korean studies, to data science, food and nutrition, and economics.
3. Tokyo Women’s Medical University
With the hopes of empowering women in medical education, Yoshioka Yayoi, a Japanese physician, educator, and women’s rights activist, founded Tokyo Women’s Medical University (TWMU) in 1900.
TWMU was the first medical school for women in Japan. In fact, it’s the only women’s medical school in the country.
The university is home to two schools, the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing. Within the School of Medicine, you can specialise in several fields, such as Pharmacology, Forensic Medicine, Dermatology, Cardiovascular Surgery, Gynaecology, Medical Oncology, Clinical Engineering, and more. For the School of Nursing, you can specialise in Adult Health Nursing, Aged Health Nursing, Child Health Nursing, and more.
4. Newnham College
In the 19th century, the University of Cambridge was exclusively for men, meaning women weren’t allowed to attend. So, Henry Sidgwick and Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett sought to change this.
In 1871, they founded Newnham College, a women-only college within the University of Cambridge. Today, it’s the oldest college run by women, for women.
The Newnham College offers degrees in Archaeology, Architecture, History, Political Science, Engineering, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, and Music.
Notable alumni from this women-only university include Akua Asabea Ayisi (Ghana’s first journalist and High Court Judge), Dame Margaret Anstee (first female Under-Secretary General of the United Nations), Emma Thompson (Academy Award-winning actor, writer), Jane Goodall (primatologist and anthropologist), Sylvia Plath (Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, diarist), and Suzy Menkes (journalist and editor of Vogue International Magazine).
5. Wellesley College
Wellesley College is a prestigious private liberal arts college for women.
Since its founding in 1870 by Pauline and Henry Fowle Durant, the college has upheld a singular mission: to prepare women to lead boldly and make meaningful change.
That vision has come to life in extraordinary ways. Graduates from this women-only university have made waves as scientists, environmental champions, secretaries of state, civil rights leaders, financial innovators, media producers, and artists.
Wellesley College graduates do well. Madeleine Albright was the first woman to become US Secretary of State, and Pamela Melroy is a retired NASA astronaut and Air Force officer.
However, perhaps the most popular is Hillary Clinton. The college even named a research and study centre after her.
A shot of the Ewha Campus Complex. Source: Jakobjin via Pexels
6. Ewha Womans University
Ewha Womans University’s story began in 1886 when American missionary Mary Scranton taught a small class in her Seoul home.
From those humble beginnings, Ewha led the way in women’s education, becoming South Korea’s first government-accredited four-year university.
Today, it is one of the nation’s most prestigious institutions and the world’s largest women’s university, serving nearly 25,000 students with the support of 987 faculty members across 11 colleges, 15 graduate schools, and 66 research institutes.
Professional golfer Grace Park, winner of six LPGA Tour events, including one major championship, graduated from this women-only university in 2003.
Another distinguished alumna is Yoo Eun-hae, South Korea’s first female Deputy Prime Minister and former Minister of Education under President Moon Jae-in.
7. Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University
The focus on women’s education in Saudi Arabia has opened doors to incredible opportunities, empowering Saudi women to excel and achieve their goals in diverse fields.
One of the standout achievements in this journey is the Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University. What began in 1970 with the establishment of the first educational college for women has grown into a vast network of 102 colleges.
Spread across 72 cities and catering to 600,000 female students, these institutions underscore Saudi Arabia’s dedication to advancing women’s higher education.
Graduates go on to make a name for themselves, including Amal Yahya al-Moallimi, Saudi Arabia’s second female ambassador.
She obtained a bachelor’s in English from the Princess Noura Bint Abdulrahman University and now represents the country in Norway.
8. Duksung Women’s University
Founded in 1920 by women’s rights activist Ms. ChaMirisa, Duksung Women’s University (DSWU) has been a pioneer in women’s education in Korea.
Today, nearly 7,000 students thrive across two stunning campuses: Ssangmun Main Campus near Mt. Bukhan National Park and the Jongno Second Campus in downtown Seoul.
With 39 undergraduate majors and 22 graduate programmes, DSWU offers many opportunities for academic and personal growth.
Accolades like the “International Education Quality Assurance” certification from the Ministry of Education and its alumni further demonstrate its commitment to excellence.
Writer Choi Jin-young majored in Korean Language & Literature at DSWU. She made her debut in 2006 by winning the Silcheon Munhak New Writer’s Award and has since won various awards, including the 2020 Baek Shin-ae Literature Award, and the 2020 Manhae Prize for Literature.
9. Banasthali Vidyapith
Banasthali Vidyapith is a private women’s university in India, with the motto “University for Women: University with a change.”
It’s the largest residential university for women globally, home to 11000 students on its 850-acre campus. The campus is divided into multiple blocks, with the resident block featuring 29 hostels capable of housing up to 438 students each.
Why the size? The university caters to more than just higher education — it offers elementary to senior secondary education, 18 undergraduate programmes, 61 master’s programmes, and 32 doctoral programmes.
Banasthali was founded by freedom fighters Hiralal Shastri and Ratan Shastri in memory of their daughter, who unfortunately passed away while young. Her parents believed that if she had the chance to grow up, she would have worked for women’s causes.
The campus also features a hospital, fields and sports facilities, a community radio station, and interestingly, a licensed airstrip to train women in flying and guiding. This paved the way for alumni Avani Chaturvedi, India’s first female combat pilot.
10. Smith College
Smith College is a leading liberal arts college for women, located in Northampton, Massachusetts.
It has made its mark on history several times since its inception in 1871. The first-ever women’s basketball programme started here in 1892 — in 1998, it was the first of its kind to guarantee funded internships, and in 2000, it became the first women’s college to offer an engineering degree.
This charming, arboretum campus is home to 2,500 students from nearly every US state and 68 other countries; it offers more than 1,200 courses in 83 areas of study.
A unique part of an education here is that every woman can design her own educational path through the university’s open curriculum. All it takes is an introductory writing course, and the rest is history.
There are over 140 student organisations available, including those that focus on community service, music, dance, and foreign languages.
American chef and author Julia Child graduated from Smith College in 1934 with a major in history, before her foray into the culinary world.
Southeast Asian female scholars are pioneering global research, from unearthing UNESCO World Heritage sites to leading international health councils. Source: Bimbim Sindu via Pexels
11. Asian University for Women
A newer but genuinely distinctive addition is the Asian University for Women (AUW) in Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Founded in 2008 with backing from a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation challenge grant and chartered by the Parliament of Bangladesh as a fully independent, non-sectarian institution, AUW was built specifically to reach women who might otherwise never access higher education — its first cohort brought together 130 students from Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
That founding mission has stuck. AUW today enrols students from across Asia and the Middle East, including a significant number of first-generation university students and young women from refugee and displaced communities, admitted purely on merit regardless of family income. Former UK Prime Minister’s wife and human rights barrister Cherie Blair serves as the university’s Chancellor.
Degree programmes span the liberal arts and sciences, including Politics, Philosophy & Economics, Public Health, Computer Science & ICT, and Asian Studies — with graduates going on to roles across diplomacy, public health, humanitarian coordination (including with the UN refugee agency), and social entrepreneurship across the region.
12. Women’s University in Africa
The final addition is the Women’s University in Africa (WUA), founded in 2002 in Marondera, Zimbabwe, and widely recognised as the first women-focused university on the African continent.
WUA was co-founded by Professor Hope Sadza, a former Zimbabwean Public Service Commissioner, and Dr Fay Chung, Zimbabwe’s former Minister of Education — with a founding mission to close the country’s gender gap in higher education access. Rather than an exclusively single-sex model, WUA maintains an enrolment policy of roughly 80% women and 20% men, positioning itself as a deliberately gender-transformative institution rather than a strictly women-only one.
The university now spans faculties in Management & Entrepreneurial Sciences and Social & Gender Transformative Sciences, and has graduated thousands of students since its first cohort in 2005. Notable graduates include Captain Emilia Fungayi Njovani, Zimbabwe’s first Black female commercial pilot and a director of flight operations at Air Zimbabwe, honoured by WUA for her inspiration to young Zimbabwean women.
Women-only universities in the 21st century
In the past, higher education was a privilege reserved almost exclusively for men. In 1836, however, Wesleyan College in Georgia broke barriers by becoming the first women’s college in the world.
Starting with just 90 students, the college now welcomes 700 students from across the US and about 20 countries. It offers Bachelor’s in Arts and Fine Arts and Nursing, along with eight pre-professional programmes in health, law, medicine, pharmacy, and more.
Today, unfortunately, the story of women-only universities has taken a bittersweet turn. As co-educational institutions have become the norm, the number of women-only universities has significantly decreased.
While some women’s colleges have chosen to adapt by opening their doors to male students, others have faced closures due to declining enrollment and financial pressures.
Japan, for instance, is home to the highest number of women-only universities globally, with these institutions representing 9% of its 800 four-year higher education establishments.
This is because traditional gender expectations in Japan, such as the “salaryman” culture (which is largely male-dominated), have long influenced the educational system, limiting opportunities for women.
In response, women-only universities were established. They provided a supportive space where female students could develop their academic interests and prepare for careers.
Yet, the future of women-only universities is uncertain.
Over the past 20 years, while the overall number of universities in Japan grew from 600 to 800, women-only universities have steadily declined, with about one closing every year.
A case in point is Kobe Shinwa Women’s University, which transitioned to a coeducational model and rebranded as Kobe Shinwa University.
In an interview with Nikkei Asia, University President Tomoyo Mitsui noted that the institution had been considering this shift since 2018 to keep the institution competitive in a challenging market.
The fight to preserve women-only universities
But not everyone is on board with this shift. Students at South Korea’s Dongduk Women’s University strongly opposed plans to make the institution co-educational.
The demonstrations quickly grew, involving hundreds of students and even prompting police intervention on campus in November 2024.
The Dongduk student council, Naran, firmly rejected the co-education discussions in a statement. They argued that such a transition undermines the institution’s founding purpose: to empower women.
“Women’s universities are vital spaces where women can engage in meaningful dialogue without the societal bias and discrimination they often face,” the council declared.
Their concerns are not unfounded. Discrimination against women in higher education persists globally.
In 2018, a Japanese government investigation revealed that at least nine medical schools had manipulated admissions to limit the number of female students. This was reportedly based on unfounded fears that women would abandon medical careers after graduation.
Such incidents highlight the systemic gender biases embedded in many societies. Women often face stereotypes that discourage them from pursuing their passions, with such biases affecting their career aspirations and educational achievements from an early age.
However, some progress has been made. Following the scandal, the representation of women in Japan’s medical schools has improved. By 2023, women comprised 40.2% of medical students nationwide, up by 1.7% from the previous year.
Even so, the journey toward equity in education is far from complete. Efforts must continue to ensure that all women have the opportunity to thrive, free from the barriers of discrimination and outdated stereotypes.
Frequently asked questions about women-only universities
Do women’s colleges actually make a difference?
Graduates of women’s universities are more likely to earn higher salaries and be successful in male-dominated fields.
It’s a claim you’ll hear often, so it’s worth checking what’s actually behind it. Research compiled by the Women’s College Coalition has found that students who attend women’s colleges are more likely than their coeducational peers to graduate, to hold high expectations of themselves, to go on to graduate school, and to major in fields traditionally dominated by men. At Agnes Scott College, for instance, women graduate in STEM fields at roughly 25%, compared to about 10% at comparable coeducational institutions.
That said, it’s worth holding this data with some nuance — students who choose a women’s college aren’t a random sample, so some of this outperformance likely reflects who opts in, not just the institution itself. Still, the pattern is consistent enough across decades of research that it’s more than noise.
Are women’s colleges only for people who identify as women?
Policies vary by institution and have evolved significantly over the past decade. Many women’s colleges, including several on this list, welcome nonbinary, genderqueer, genderfluid, and transgender students, and some, like the Women’s University in Africa, deliberately enrol a small proportion of men as part of their broader gender-equity mission. It’s worth checking each university’s specific admissions policy directly, since terms and eligibility differ from school to school and can change.
Why are so many women’s universities closing or going co-ed?
Mostly financial and demographic pressure, especially in countries with shrinking youth populations. In Japan, which has more women’s universities than any other country, one has closed roughly every year as applications decline and schools compete for a smaller pool of students overall. Some institutions, like Kobe Shinwa Women’s University, have chosen to go coeducational to remain financially viable, while others — like South Korea’s Dongduk Women’s University, where students staged major protests against a proposed shift in 2024 — have pushed back hard, arguing that the loss of women-only spaces comes at a real cost to the students they were built to serve.
Disclaimer: This article was last updated on July 20, 2026.