Rosemont College, a Roman Catholic institution near Philadelphia, will open its doors to male undergraduates beginning this fall, the college has announced. Like other women’s colleges that have become coeducational, Rosemont is hoping the move will increase its shrinking enrollment.

A unanimous decision by the college’s Board of Trustees followed 15 months of exploring the issue.

Although some of the college’s alumnae initially opposed the idea, most of them are now on board with the decision, said Ann E. Myhr, president of the alumnae association. Looking at the college’s strategic plan helped convince them of the decision’s merit, she said. “Most of the alumnae seem to be in agreement with the idea, and there are some who are not in agreement as much.”

Several other women’s colleges in the area have gone coed in recent years, including Immaculata College and Chestnut Hill College — which, like Rosemont, are affiliated with the Catholic Church — and Harcum College.

Rosemont, which was founded in 1921 by the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, has included men in its graduate programs since first offering them, in the 1980s. —Beckie Supiano