SPARTANBURG, SC (WSPA) – Converse College announced plans Tuesday to admit men into the school’s undergraduate residential programs one year early.
Converse had announced in February that the college would go co-educational in the fall of 2021.
The Converse Board of Trustees voted unanimously to begin admitting men into undergraduate programs beginning in the fall of 2020 due to anticipated declines in higher education enrollment as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
“When we made the announcement in February to add an undergraduate co-educational college in 2021 alongside our women’s college, we never anticipated the current challenges,” said Converse president Krista Newkirk. “Today, students and their families are reconsidering what their fall semesters will look like as they face financial impacts that may require them to put a pause on spending.”
Converse said students in the region may need a more affordable option and may want to stay closer to home.
“Some students may wish to remain closer to home should a second wave of the novel coronavirus hit in the fall of 2020,” said Newkirk. “Without a doubt, the preparation for the fall 2020 semester will be unlike any experienced in recent history for colleges and universities across the world.”
The college is still planning to return to campus for the fall of 2020 and resume face-to-face learning.
Converse was founded as a women’s college in 1889 and will become Converse University in July 2021.
