Twelve essays by contemporary scholars explore, from a historical perspective, the meaning of collegiate coeducation in the United States, including its value, utility, significance, and successes and failures in supplying equal education for both sexes. An introductory first section contains the essay "Coeducation in a Gender-Stratified Society" by Alice S. Rossi. Part two, on what a woman should learn, includes: "'Nothing Useless or Absurd or Fantastical': The Education of Women in the Early Republic" (Linda K. Kerber), and "From Republican Motherhood to Race Suicide: Arguments on the Higher Education of Women in the United States, 1820-1920" (Patricia A. Palmieri). Part three on creating the coeducational model at Oberlin College (Oberlin, Ohio) includes: "The 'Joint Education of the Sexes': Oberlin's Original Vision" (Lori D. Ginzberg); "The Oberlin Model and Its Impact on Other Colleges" (Barbara Miller Solomon); and "Coeducation or Women's Education: A Comparison of Alumnae from Two Colleges, 1934-79" (Janet Zollinger Giele). Gender, race, and discrimination are considered in part four containing: "The Classroom Climate: Still a Chilly One for Women" (Bernice Resnick Sandler); "College Men: Gender Roles in Transition" (Mirra Komarovsky); "How Equal is Equal Education: Race, Class, and Gender" (Margaret B. Wilkerson); and "The Issue of Sexual Preference on College Campuses: Retrospect and Prospect" (John D'Emilio). The final section on the future contains "New Consciousness, Old Institutions, and the Need for Reconciliation," by Catherine Stimpson. References follow each essay. An index is provided. (SM)