Coates College for Women

Coates College for Women was a liberal arts women's college in Terre Haute, Indiana. It opened in 1885 and closed in 1897.

St. Mary-of-the-Woods College, founded in 1840, was originally the only women's college in the Terre Haute area. However, during an industrial boom of the 1860s and 1870s, several new colleges, mostly targeted at male students, opened in Terre Haute, including Indiana State Normal School in 1865 and the Rose Polytechnic Institute in 1874.

Recognizing that women were also in need of higher education, and also wanting to put a particular emphasis on the teaching of Christianity, Jane B. Coates of Greencastle purchased 13 acres in the Strawberry Hill section of Terre Haute and founded the Coates College for Women in 1885. The college opened that October to three students, with Rev. Dr. Laurence G. Hay of Indianapolis serving as president.

Coates aimed to be the "Wellesley of the Midwest" and modeled its curriculum after those of Wellesley and Vassar College. Eventually, three separate Bachelor's degree programs were offered. The college quickly gained a reputation for attracting excellent students, and many Coates graduates began to purse graduate education at some of the most esteemed universities in the United States, including the University of Chicago.

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