Mississippi University for Women

The Mississippi University for Women (MUW), established in Columbus, Mississippi, in 1884, was the first state-supported institution in the United States to grant diplomas to women. Historically, MUW limited its enrollment to female students. However, in 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan that the university's policy of denying admission to a male applicant violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The court determined that the university's single-sex admissions policy was not substantially related to a compelling governmental objective. This landmark decision has influenced subsequent gender-related admissions cases.12