<P> The University of Iowa became the first coeducational public or state university in the United States in 1855, and for much of the next century, public universities, and land grant universities in particular, would lead the way in mixed - sex higher education . There were also many private coeducational universities founded in the 19th century, especially west of the Mississippi River . East of the Mississippi, Wheaton College (Illinois) graduated its first female student in 1862, while Cornell University and the University of Michigan each admitted their first female students in 1870 . </P> <P> Around the same time, single - sex women's colleges were also appearing . According to Irene Harwarth, Mindi Maline, and Elizabeth DeBra: "women's colleges were founded during the mid - and late - 19th century in response to a need for advanced education for women at a time when they were not admitted to most institutions of higher education ." Notable examples include the Seven Sisters colleges, of which Vassar College is now coeducational and Radcliffe College has merged with Harvard University . Other notable women's colleges that have become coeducational include Wheaton College in Massachusetts, Ohio Wesleyan Female College in Ohio, Skidmore College, Wells College, and Sarah Lawrence College in New York state, Pitzer College in California, Goucher College in Maryland and Connecticut College . </P> <P> By 1900 the Briton Frederic Harrison said after visiting the United States that "The whole educational machinery of America...open to women must be at least twentyfold greater than with us, and it is rapidly advancing to meet that of men both in numbers and quality". Where most of the history of coeducation in this period is a list of those moving toward the accommodation of both genders at one campus, the state of Florida was an exception . In 1905, the Buckman Act was one of consolidation in governance and funding but separation in race and gender, with the campus that became what is now Florida State University designated to serve white females during this era, the campus that became what is now the University of Florida serving white males, and coeducation stipulated only for the campus serving black students at the site of what is now Florida A & M. Florida did not return to coeducation at UF and FSU until after World War II, prompted by the drastically increased demands placed on the higher education system by veterans studying via GI Bill programs following World War II . The Buckman arrangements officially ended with new legislation guidelines passed in 1947 . </P> <P> Several early primary and secondary schools in the United States were single - sex . Examples include Collegiate School, a boys' school operating in New York by 1638 (which remains a single - sex institution); and Boston Latin School, founded in 1635 (which didn't became coeducational until 1972). </P>

In general when did coed public schools become common in the united states