Mills became the first women’s college to offer a computer science major in 1974. The shifts are just the latest that Mills has navigated in recent decades. And some Mills majors, such as Women’s Studies, may be eliminated. Northeastern students will make up about half of the projected 1,000 students on the Mills campus next school year. Northeastern University will be the name on all degrees awarded after June 30. This semester, male undergraduates have started arriving on campus for the first time since Mills opened as The Young Ladies Seminary in 1852. The Alumnae Association of Mills College sued the college in the summer of 2021 arguing they were deprived of financial information about the future of Mills, but agreed to drop the lawsuit Jan. Mills alumni and current students who spoke to the CalMatters College Journalism Network said they’re concerned the merger and the arrival of male students will change the tight-knit campus. These arrangements can help colleges survive, but they also come with costs. Also in the works: Marymount California University is working to secure approval to merge with Florida-based Saint Leo University, and the San Francisco Art Institute this month announced plans to become part of The University of San Francisco. More such mergers are expected, experts say. The Mills-Northeastern merger is an example of the route some private colleges have taken to avoid closure. The shrinking number is a sign of shifts to co-ed campuses and the financial pressure that many small, private colleges have faced over the years and seen worsen recently. Now, fewer than 40 remain, according to the Women’s College Coalition. Fifty years ago, the United States had 230 women’s colleges. The merger is the latest illustration of challenges that women’s colleges have weathered. “It’s just different to be surrounded exclusively, pretty much by women and non binary students. The 170-year-old college isn’t “going to be Mills” anymore after the merger, Varner said. The merger is set to be made final in June. Varner decided to leave Mills - she couldn’t stomach staying at a school that would feel so different. In September, Mills announced it would merge with Northeastern University, a much larger, co-ed school based in Boston. But that life-long dream came to an end after Varner finished sophomore year. When it was time to apply for colleges, she only applied there. Those stories, plus the school’s art history program, made Varner certain that Mills was the school for her. Her mother would vividly describe the historic buildings on campus and the courses she took in the book arts program in the 1990s. When Jenny Varner was a child, her mother used to share fond memories of her time at Mills College, an all-women’s college in Oakland. While experts say college mergers will continue, students say the effect on campus life should be taken into consideration. The merger between Oakland’s Mills College and Northeastern University in Boston will bring many changes to the tight-knit school for women.
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