Women’s Colleges and Economic Diversity

The other day Carol T. Christ, President of Smith College wrote an opinion piece for The New York Times entitled, “Women’s Colleges and Economic Diversity.”

Highlights include:

“Women’s colleges like Smith succeed at enrolling an economically diverse student body to a greater extent than many of their peers. At Smith, 25 percent of students come from families eligible for federal Pell grants. 

Smith and other women’s colleges excel in recruiting and retaining an economically diverse student body, motivating a significant proportion of those students to pursue study in critical fields like science and engineering, and preparing them for advanced and professional study.”

For any high school girl who feels college is unaffordable, I’m here to let you know that if you have the grades, you can go to college. And yet another reason to consider attending a women’s college.

Smith College is a liberal arts women’s college located in Northampton, MA.  Total enrollment in 2011 was 3,162 students and is considered to be the largest college of The Seven Sisters colleges. Notable alumnae of Smith College include Catharine MacKinnon, Jane Bannister, Nancy Reagan, Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Julia Child, Madeleine L'Engle, Sylvia Plath, Sherry Rehman, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Rochelle Lazarus, Laura D'Andrea Tyson and Yolanda King.