Pachaiyappa's College will enrol women as undergraduate students for the first time in its 184-year history, beginning this academic year.

The Tamil Nadu government has granted co-educational status to the institution, allowing women to enrol in all 12 undergraduate programmes from 2026-27. According to a press release issued by the college, the state formalised the transition through Government Order No. 100, dated June 15.

Established in 1842 through an endowment from philanthropist Pachaiyappa Mudaliar, the college is among India's oldest institutions of higher learning and has occupied a distinctive place in Chennai's educational and political history. Generations of politicians, academics, civil servants and public intellectuals have studied there.

The decision also marks the end of one of the state's last major undergraduate bastions for men. While Pachaiyappa's had remained a men's college at the undergraduate level, it has admitted women to postgraduate and doctoral programmes for several decades.

College authorities said enrolment had declined in recent years as new government colleges opened across the state and existing institutions expanded intake through an evening shift, or Shift II. Most aided institutions, the college said, have been affected across disciplines.

The college said the move to admit women will not require additional expenditure. It is considering extending the admission deadline beyond June 30 to accommodate prospective women applicants.

Beyond admissions, the decision carries symbolic significance. Founded in the nineteenth century and shaped by social conditions very different from today's, Pachaiyappa's is now reimagining itself for a different generation of learners.