Profile America: First Coed College – Oberlin College

Friday, December 29th. Colleges and universities with both male and female students are the norm today. But in 1833, only a few women went to college and the idea of coed classes was a social innovation. In December that year, Oberlin College in Ohio opened its doors to both sexes. That first year, the school had 44 students — 29 men and 15 women.

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Credit: Oberlin College

Now, Oberlin has a student body of some 2,900 students and boasts one of the most comprehensive libraries of any college in the nation. For many decades, more males attended college than females. Today, nearly 56 percent of all students in higher education are women — over 10.6 million, compared with just 8.5 million men.

You can find more facts about America’s people, places and economy, from the American Community Survey here.

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