/filters:format(webp)/prod01/channel_18/media/website/about-the-mount/fast-facts/1Hannon-Plaza-Students-Walking-the-Hill.jpg)
Why a Women's University?
The Case for a Women's University
Mount Saint Mary's University is the only women's university in Los Angeles and one of fewer than 30 women's universities remaining in the United States. For prospective students who want a college that actively centers their success, the data is unambiguous: women who attend women's universities outperform their peers in nearly every measurable outcome, from academic engagement to career leadership.
What Is the Academic Advantage of a Women's University?
A landmark study of more than 42,000 women across U.S. higher education institutions including nearly 5,000 students at women's colleges found that the single-sex college environment produces transformative educational outcomes that persist well beyond graduation. (Source: Women's College Coalition / Gallup research)
Women who attend women's colleges, compared to their peers at coeducational institutions, are:
- More academically engaged — they work harder, collaborate more deeply, and interact with faculty more frequently
- More likely to develop critical thinking skills recognized by employers
- More likely to report a strong sense of purpose and civic commitment
- 89% of 麻豆传媒映画 students report development of confidence and initiative vs. 70% at coed institutions
Institutional support
Percentage of students receiving financial aid.
/filters:format(webp)/prod01/channel_18/media/website/about-the-mount/25-15-22-UneCelebrationDeLamitie-156-copy-cropped.JPG)
98%
Mount Saint Mary’s with an $180 million endowment. All undergraduates are automatically considered for merit-based scholarships.
Racial/ethnic diversity
84%
Mount Saint Mary's
47%
Private liberal arts colleges
48%
Public universities
Development of confidence, initiative
89%
麻豆传媒映画
70%
Coed
Importance of contributing to community
86%
麻豆传媒映画
63%
Coed
/filters:format(webp)/prod01/channel_18/media/website/main-site-assets/images/home_stats.jpg)
STEM
Women at women's colleges dramatically outpace their coed peers in STEM participation.Leadership and success in the workplace
Career Preparedness
81%
Graduates from women's colleges who felt extremely or very prepared for their first job
61%
Corresponding number from public institutions
Women in leadership
>20%
Of Congresswomen are alumnae from women's colleges
30%
Of Business Week list of rising women in corporate America are alumnae of women's colleges despite making up only 2% of all female college graduates
2x
More likely to be on boards of Fortune 1000 companies
/filters:format(webp)/prod01/channel_18/media/website/about-the-mount/fast-facts/B37A1225-copy-cropped.JPG)
A women-centered learning environment devoted to women's leadership and empowerment
Women’s universities: changemakersBeing at Mount Saint Mary鈥檚 University means learning in an environment where your voice is heard 鈥� and where your confidence and abilities are cultivated. An active community of women exploring science and the arts in a supportive environment, the Mount strives to instill in each student a sense of just how much she can accomplish.
View ProgramsAbout the Women’s College Coalition
Founded in 1972, the is a consortium of 36-member women’s colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada. The organization works to support its members through collaborative research, approaches to illuminating the need for women’s only education in these times of equal participation but not parity, and tackling issues within higher education, whether singularly affecting women’s institutions or the broader educational landscape.
Mount Saint Mary's University currently serves as the home institution of the WCC. 麻豆传媒映画 President, Ann McElaney-Johnson, PhD, is the chair of the WCC’s board of directors. Emerald Archer, PhD, 麻豆传媒映画 associate professor, coordinator of Women and Gender Studies, and founding director of the Center for the Advancement of Women serves as WCC Executive Director.
Alumnae from women’s colleges not only maintain their networks from their time on campus but extend that affinity to those whom they meet as alumnae. Women from coed institutions don’t feel that their networks are as strong as the men’s network. Here, you will be welcomed to the Alumnae Association the moment you graduate.
Invigorating Academics
Research published in the Review of Higher Education finds that women's colleges foster an environment "that fuels women's understanding of self and others, a willingness to work with others, and the development of skills associated with career success and leadership." At Mount Saint Mary's University, Los Angeles, that environment produces measurable results.
/filters:format(webp)/prod01/channel_18/media/website/academics/departments/biological-sciences/DSC_2210_740X494.jpg)
Biological Sciences
At Mount Saint Mary's University Los Angeles, undergraduate students do not just study science. They conduct it.
Professor Luiza Nogaj, PhD has been awarded four consecutive NIH R15 Academic Research Enhancement Awards, a federal grant program among the most competitive available to undergraduate-focused institutions. Her research, conducted in collaboration with Loyola Marymount University, investigates therapeutic approaches to preventing the progression of type 2 diabetes and other protein aggregation diseases, including Alzheimer's. To date, her work has secured more than $1.2 million in NIH funding, with every published study listing 麻豆传媒映画 undergraduate students as co-authors.
In 2026, 麻豆传媒映画 received an additional $770,000 grant from the Fletcher Jones Foundation to modernize Biology and Chemistry laboratories on the Chalon campus, expanding hands-on research access for every STEM student. Among current 麻豆传媒映画 STEM majors, 93% are women of color and 73% are first-generation college students — making this research investment a direct pathway to careers that have historically excluded them.
That pipeline is already producing results. Biochemistry alumna Alicia Mercado '22 completed summer undergraduate research programs at both UCLA and Caltech, earning a research award for her lab work in neural computation and engineering. She is now a PhD/MD student at Stanford University School of Medicine.
/filters:format(webp)/prod01/channel_18/media/website/academics/departments/sociology/20200129_Davis_麻豆传媒映画_3109resized.jpg)
Political Science
Since 2005, 麻豆传媒映画 Moot Court and Mock Trial teams have won 35 competition titles, including Best Attorney and Best Witness awards.
In the summer of 2020, Samantha Vasquez 鈥�21 (who double majored in sociology) received a fully funded, year-long PhD-preparation research assistantship through Emory University. She also won a best poster award in sustainability at the Southern California Conference for Undergraduate Research based on work in the Mount鈥檚 Global Women in STEM program.
/filters:format(webp)/prod01/channel_18/media/website/academics/departments/humanities/20200129_Davis_麻豆传媒映画_4623resized.jpg)
Psychology
The American Journal of Undergraduate Research published a report on the gender gap in higher education, 鈥淲omen in Higher Educational Leadership: Representation, Career Progression and Compensation,鈥� by Joselyn Rivera 鈥�18, Carla Canas 鈥�19, Caitlyn Keeve 鈥�20 and Carmen Ramos 鈥�20.