Top 10 Benefits of Choosing an All-Girls Education*

To help families better understand how an all-girls education can actively engage, intellectually challenge, inspire, and effectively prepare their daughters, the International Coalition of Girls' Schools recently presented a well-researched Top 10 list of compelling reasons to consider enrolling your child in a girls' school.

1. Allowing Girls to be Themselves

Girls' schools provide an environment where students feel safe to express themselves and engage in an open and safe exchange of ideas. 

More than 88 percent of girls’ school students report that they are comfortable being themselves at school, which means that they are free to focus their energies on their learning. — Dr. Richard A. Holmgren, Allegheny College, Steeped in Learning: The Student Experience at All-Girls Schools.

2. Preparing Girls for the Real World

Girls' school engage students in activities that prepare them for life beyond the classroom. 

Nearly half of all women graduating from single-sex schools rate their public speaking ability as “high,” compared to 39 percent of women graduates from coed schools. A similar differential exists for writing abilities: 64 percent of girls’ school graduates assess their writing skills as “high,” compared to 59 percent of women graduates of coed schools. — Dr. Linda Sax, UCLA, Women Graduates of Single-Sex and Coeducational High Schools: Differences in their Characteristics and the Transition to College.

3. Providing Excellent Mentoring 

Girls' school students are mentored by a community of peers, teachers, and school administrators. 

Overall, female students at girls’ schools noted more frequently than their coed peers that their teachers were enthusiastic, displaying higher levels of teacher encouragement and motivation.  — The Positive Effects of the Girls’ School Environment: An Analysis of PISA Data, Macquarie Marketing Group study of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

4. Nurturing Higher Aspirations

Girls' school students strive for greatness. 

Girls at all levels of achievement in single-sex schools receive a benefit from the single-sex school environment in terms of heightened career aspirations—an effect unprecedented in any other portion of our study. — Dr. Cary M. Watson, Stanford University, Sex Roles: A Journal of Research.

5. Dedication to How Girls Learn

Girls' schools capitalise on girls' unique learning styles. 

To be successful, students need more than just a feeling of support. That support must translate into actions that are geared toward student success. Nearly 96 percent of girls’ school students report receiving more frequent feedback on their assignments and other course work, compared to 93 percent of girls at coed independent schools, and 80 percent at coed public schools. — Dr. Richard A. Holmgren, Allegheny College, Steeped in Learning: The Student Experience at All-Girls Schools.

6. Focus on STEM

Girls' schools champion the educational needs of girls as a group that is underrepresented in STEM majors and careers.  

Girls’ school grads are six times more likely to consider majoring in math, science, and technology, compared to girls who attend coed schools. — Goodman Research Group, The Girls’ School Experience: A Survey of Young Alumnae of Single-Sex Schools.

7. Developing Leadership Skills

Girls' schools empower students to become bold leaders. 

Programs at girls’ schools focus on the development of teamwork over other qualities of leadership, while the qualities of confidence, compassion, and resilience also rank prominently. — Dr. Nicole Archard, Kincoppal-Rose Bay School of the Sacred Heart, Student Leadership Development in Australian and New Zealand Secondary Girls’ Schools: A Staff Perspective.

8. Building Self-Confidence

At girls' schools, girls occupy every role.

Seventy-seven percent of girls’ school students reported having self-confidence. They noted feeling a sense of accomplishment, identifying that when they are in a difficult situation, they can usually find a way out of it, and that they can handle many things at a time. — The Positive Effects of the Girls’ School Environment: An Analysis of PISA Data, Macquarie Marketing Group study of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

9. Academic Achievement

Girls' schools create a culture of achievement.

More than 80 percent of girls’ school graduates consider their academic performance to be highly successful. — Dr. Linda Sax, UCLA, Women Graduates of Single-Sex and Coeducational High Schools: Differences in their Characteristics and the Transition to College.

10. Inspirational Environment

Girls' schools champion the educational needs of girls. 

Single-sex programs create an institutional and classroom climate in which female students can express themselves freely and frequently, and develop higher-order thinking skills. — Dr. Rosemary C. Salomone, St. John’s University, Public Single-Sex Schools: What Oprah Knew.

* Quoted research from the International Coalition of Girls' Schools website, 2023.