Though taken for granted by many, co-sex educational institutions for higher learning are really just recent occurrences. For the most part, colleges and universities, particularly elite ones, taught either men or women. The reasons for this separation date back to early American history, when a woman's place was seen as " in the home." In addition, education was seen, though ridiculously, as having detrimental effects on the woman.

Some of these ludicrous, yet back then "scientific" beliefs, included that women's brains were smaller than men's were therefore, making them "less capable of academic learning." It was also said that if women utilized their brains at the time of their adolescent years, then their reproductive organs would not develop correctly causing possible sterility.

Motherhood has always been seen as a strong link for women to their personal identities. Therefore, the greatest oppression would be to threaten its existence. Having to be a mother is a role traditionally defined by society for women; "Most women long for children, even

Women have had to prove that they are equals of men. They have had to prove that they are as intelligent, competent, brave, and as morally responsible. With this incentive Women's Liberation was born and with it women were secured many rights, among them are: the right to vote, to educate themselves, and to have and spend their own money and properties. It became the battle to overcome the universal idea that women were pervasive and inferior. Educating themselves became one of their most significant means.

In the application of the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause the Court tests the laws and their objectives, as well as, it classifies the people to which the law has the greatest effect on. There are three different tests administered in accordance with the situation. The highest level of testing is the Strict Scrutiny Test. It is used mainly when there is a case involving racial categorization, also known as suspect classification. This test examines different ideas, such as whether the group effected has been subject to any past discrimination. If the answer to this is yes, then the purpose of the classification must be necessarily related to a compelling state interest. In other words, when a case deals with a fundamental right then the strict scrutiny test is applied; which usually leads to a decision in favor of the plaintiff and against the state.

The history of women and education has been a long and hard struggle. From as early as 1955 when Adlai Stevenson; addressed the Smith College graduating class and urged them not to define themselves by "any profession and to participate in politics through the role of wife and mother." To the emergence of the Women's Liberation groups in 1968 as a "spin-off" of the male- run student movement. Women have continued their battle for equality through education and will continue to do so until the battle is won.

The question of this case is " whether a state statute that excludes males from enrolling in a state -supported professional nursing school violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment." The U.S. Supreme Court found that because the policy blatantly discriminates on the basis of gender, it is thus subjected to scrutiny. It also establishes that just because it discriminates against men instead of women it does not change the fact that discrimination did take place. The court also found that the University had to " carry the burden of an exceedingly persuasive justification for the classification...the burden is met only by showing at least that the classification serves important governmental objectives and that the discriminatory means employed are substantially related to the achievement of those objectives."

When the case of Hogan began, Mississippi had eight universities and sixteen junior colleges. Only the Mississippi University for Women in Columbus was not coeducational. Joe Hogan applied to MUW School for Nursing, only to get denied solely on the fact that he was a man, since otherwise he was academically qualified. He chose to apply to MUW because it was closest to his home. Hogan filed an action in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, claiming that MUW's admission policy was a violation of the equal protection clause. The U.S. District Court applied the rational basis test and ruled in favor of the university. The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed the ruling stating that " in it's the state had the heavier burden, which it had not met, in showing that the gender-based classification was substantially related to an important government objective," in other words, the intermediate scrutiny test should have been applied.

The third test, and the most applied, is the rational basis test, which only asks whether the classification in question has a reasonable relation to a legitimate state interest. For example, the i

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Approximate Word count = 2630
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