Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min<\/p>\n
The historically women\u2019s Moore College of Art and Design will open its doors to all genders, including men, beginning in 2027-28, the college announced Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The decision followed a near-unanimous vote by the college\u2019s 23-member boards of trustees and managers and several months of community forums gathering input from nearly 500 students, alumni, faculty, and staff, the college said. <\/p>\n
With the change, the 177-year-old Moore will give up its status as the \u201conly historically visual arts college for women in the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00bb READ MORE: Moore College will consider opening undergraduate programs to men<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI think there\u2019s a real excitement from people about this next evolution of the college and a recognition that it\u2019s a continuation of our mission,\u201d Moore president Cathy Young said in an interview. \u201cWe want to serve students of all identities, and we want to serve the city by graduating those students into the creative economy here.\u201d<\/p>\n The college, which already concluded its spring semester, informed the campus community Tuesday afternoon. The change, which the college announced<\/a> it was considering in February, is subject to approval by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and other regulatory bodies. <\/p>\n The decision comes as colleges nationally are coping with greater enrollment pressures from a declining pool of available high school graduates, financial challenges, and increased competition. Those pressures are hitting art and design colleges particularly hard. The University of the Arts<\/a> in Philadelphia and the Delaware College of Art and Design closed in 2024, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts ended its degree programs<\/a> last year. <\/p>\n And the number of women\u2019s colleges nationally has been on the decline. At one time, there were more than 200; today, there are only about 30.<\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: How the UArts closure transformed Moore College of Art & Design, the last art-centered college in Philly<\/a><\/p>\n Young acknowledged the challenges but emphasized that Moore, which enrolls 466 undergraduate students, made its decision from a position of strength. The school has had operating surpluses for the last 24 consecutive years, a school spokesperson said in February. And Moore fared among the top small private colleges in the Philadelphia region for financial health in a 2024 Inquirer review<\/a>. Moore\u2019s net tuition climbed from $10.8 million to $12.7 million in fiscal 2024 and to $16.5 million in fiscal 2025, financial records show.<\/p>\n Tuition, fees, and room and board at Moore will top $77,000 in 2026-27. The college awarded $11.23 million in scholarships in 2025-26 and it provides up to $10,000 in housing grants for students with high financial need. <\/p>\n \u201cThe world of higher education is changing rapidly,\u201d Young said, \u201cand responsible institutions must be willing to lead rather than react.\u201d <\/p>\n Bryn Mawr<\/a> College will be the only remaining women\u2019s school in the Philadelphia region. (In Allentown, Cedar Crest College remains primarily a women\u2019s college.)<\/p>\n Several other colleges in the region that were formerly for women have gone coed over the last decades, including Rosemont on Philadelphia\u2019s Main Line<\/a> in 2008, Immaculata University in Chester County<\/a> in 2005, and Chestnut Hill<\/a> College in Philadelphia in 2003.<\/p>\n Moore already admits men into its graduate programs. And over the last few years, it has expanded admissions into its undergraduate program. In 2015, Moore began admitting \u201call qualified students who live as women and who consistently identify as women at the time of application.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: This women\u2019s college declared its doors open to nonbinary students. And more enrolled. <\/a><\/p>\n Then in 2020, Moore also opened admission <\/a>to nonbinary and gender-nonconforming students. Since then, the number of those students has been growing. They made up 6% of the first freshman class under the new policy in 2021. By fall 2022, they accounted for 21%, and by fall 2023, 26%. Last fall, that grew to one-third of the freshman class.<\/p>\n In the alumni and student community, reaction to Tuesday\u2019s announcement was mixed.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it makes sense,\u201d Morgan O\u2019Halloran, a 2025 Moore graduate, said of the decision, \u201cjust because they are the last private arts college in Philly and expanding access is what they are all about.\u201d<\/p>\n O\u2019Halloran, who works as a full-time video editor for a Philadelphia advertising agency, said it might also help the school\u2019s case in getting some or all of the former UArts endowment. The college has argued in Orphans Court that it should receive <\/a>the entire $77 million because it is most like UArts. But other colleges vying for the money have argued that one reason it should not is because Moore is a women\u2019s school, and UArts was not.<\/p>\n Others were upset about the decision.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m quite angry for the Moore community,\u201d said Claudia Rubio, who got a degree in photography from Moore in 2024. \u201cI feel disheartened to have attended a college that seems to have forgotten its important and unique history. This change will only create an environment that is mimicking every other art department across universities in Philadelphia.\u201d<\/p>\n Janelle Cray, a 2025 graduate who had been an illustration major, understands those who are unhappy.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel a part of Moore\u2019s charm is being a safe space for women and non-cis men,\u201d Cray said. \u201cAnd now people feel like that\u2019s being taken away from them.\u201d<\/p>\n But Ashley Hines, 22, a photography major who graduated in May, said she does not understand why it can\u2019t be a safe space for men as well.<\/p>\n \u201cAs long as they are respectful toward their peers and a very dedicated artist, they should also have the same chance that we got,\u201d Hines said. <\/p>\n A handful of Moore faculty were sad to lose the tradition of being a women\u2019s college but understand the demographic pressures the college is facing, said Claudine Thomas, chief academic officer. Faculty are supportive, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat they\u2019ve expressed to me is that whatever the college can do to remain vibrant and supportive and, most importantly, uplift art and design education, especially in Philadelphia, they\u2019re on board to do it,\u201d Thomas said.<\/p>\n