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Wilson College For Women Is Struggling

By Dr. Marciene Mattleman

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The 316 undergraduates that started the year at Wilson College, in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, a liberal arts school that had made the US News list of best academic values among regional schools in the North, found the library and pool both closed.

With the school operating in the red, recently a new president was hired as a change agent to bring in enough students to break even.

A 23 person commission - faculty, staff, trustees, students and alumnae - is in high gear to deal with transformation and "begin a transparent process based on feedback."

Wilson, like its closest competitor, Delaware Valley College in Doylestown, is one of 45 women-only colleges.

Faculty is now looking at curriculum changes, alternative delivery formats, articulation agreements with other colleges, certificate offerings and new programs. Health care is most often mentioned.

According to The Chronicle of Higher Education the big question is - will the commission recommend admitting men? Vassar shocked some alumnae in1969 but survived! Stay tuned….

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