Questions are being raised about the legality of a speech class offered solely to men by Northeast Lakeview College, in south Texas, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

The newspaper says the two-year public college, part of the Alamo Community College District, established the class to try to improve low retention rates among its male students. The class, which is not being offered this fall, focuses on imparting life skills and giving men a chance to discuss issues of particular concern to them in an all-male setting.

Although no discrimination complaints have been filed in connection with the class, a few female students on the campus say its existence amounts to preferential treatment for men, the Express-News reported. Experts interviewed by the newspaper suggested that the program could be vulnerable to a legal challenge.

Single-sex classes have become more common in public elementary and secondary schools as a result of the Education Department’s issuance, in 2006, of guidelines allowing them in such settings. The guidelines did not pertain to public colleges, however, and single-sex classes remain rare at such institutions. —Peter Schmidt