Yet the decision by one its members formally drop its college' title has "brought into focus," in the words of one member, the future of single-sex education in America.

The Barnard College Office for Public Affairs, for instance, has been flooded with calls since last week's merger announcement. Barnard, an independent women's college, is affiliated with Columbia University. Women attending Barnard can take class and participate in extra-curricular activities at either school.

So many news organization wanted comment about Radcliffe from Barnard President Judith R. Shapiro that she issued a press release stressing the historical differences between the two schools.

"There has been a bit of puzzlement that people are somehow reading this as the death knell of women's education, when in fact there's been an extraordinary increase in the health of women's college," said Barnard Director of Public Affairs Lucas Held.

According to Held, the number of applications to the nation's 78 all-women's undergraduate institutions has drastically risen in the 90s.

"[The merger] doesn't shake us in our boots," Shanahan said. "We're confident and comfortable in the idea that Smith and a number of other women's college are an important part of the educational landscape and will not just disappear into the night."