During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, women made a significant push into higher education. The popularization of schooling for everyone, evident in the growth of common schools, high schools, and colleges, meant that more women and men had access to education. The Civil War had initiated new opportunities as well, since women had to assume places in schools as teachers when men went away to war. Furthermore, because so many men had died during the war, a large proportion of women could not expect to marry, and these women sought opportunities to support themselves. As immigration to the United States accelerated and the expansion west continued, both urban and rural areas required more schoolteachers. In addition, advocacy for female education had political dimensions; some of the same reformers who had previously backed abolitionism supported the collegiate education of women.

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