and bestowed upon those who completed these courses the degree of A. B. Three very significant changes in the relation of the college to the scheme of higher education occurred during the nineteenth century. The first of these was the founding of the professional schools of theology, law, and medicine. Although students were, and to some extent still are, admitted to these schools without a previous college education, the tendency has been constantly growing to demand a college degree or at least a period of collegiate study as a prerequisite for entrance. The college has thus become in certain measure a preparatory school for those who contemplate a course of professional training. The second change to which reference has been made was the devel opment within the college of departments of pure and applied science. By the middle of the nineteenth century the degree of B. S., granted for work done largely in the sciences, began to occupy a position of parity with the older degree of A. B. Gradually also these courses in science ramified further into courses in engineering. The engi neering schools or departments thus became coordinate parts of many colleges of liberal arts. The third and most momentous change in the status of the college was brought about by the establishment in connection with certain colleges of graduate schools on the model of the faculties of philosophy of German universities. The graduate schools have grown up principally in the last 45 years; indeed, the movement received its first strong impetus with the founding of Johns Hopkins University, incorporated in 1867 and opened for instruction in 1876. (See Sec. VI, p. 157.) The graduate schools offer to college graduates courses leading to the degrees of A. M. and Ph. D. and degrees of corresponding grade in the technical branches. They provide opportunities for advanced study in the arts and sciences and for research similar to those provided by the leading European universities. From the origin of colleges until the foundation of the graduate schools the college curriculum, aside from the development of separate courses in science and engineering, had undergone but slight changes. A few new subjects had been added to it from time to time. Options between certain studies, as, for instance, between a modern and an ancient language or between two elementary sciences, were slowly introduced. In general, however, the college program of studies was fixed and definite, centering about a core of Latin, Greek, and mathematics. With the growth of the graduate school and the 1 A number of other baccalaureate degrees have also been conferred, such as Ph. B., B. Ped., etc., but the present tendency is toward the two older degrees of A. B. and B. S., according as the subjects forming the basis of the curriculum are humanistic or scientific. changed social and educational ideals has come the introduction of many new branches of study. Columbia University, for example, now offers to candidates for the bachelor's degree instruction in 45 different subjects. Its offerings are almost paralleled by a number of other institutions. The prescribed course of study for the bachelor's degree has broken down, and there is now a general tendency to confine required work to but two or three subjects and to allow the student much freedom of choice with respect to the rest of his program; or to offer various groups of studies organized to correlate with a single central subject and to permit the student to choose one of these groups. Even those colleges which have not extended upward into graduate schools, which still grant no degrees higher than the baccalaureate, have felt and have responded to this tendency. THE UNIVERSITY PROPER. The college is the nucleus from which all higher institutions of learning have sprung. Before the nineteenth century there were no universities in the modern sense of the word. With the rise of professional schools of theology, law, and medicine, most of which were outgrowths of colleges already established, American institutions began to approach university organization. The name "university" came also into common use to designate an institution composed of a college and one or more professional schools each under the control of a separate faculty. German influence has been the dominant force in American higher education during the past 50 years and the universities of the United States have been deliberately molded to the German type. The establishment of the graduate schools marked the final step in this evolution, the four traditional faculties of the German university, theology, law, medicine, and philosophy, being thus represented. But the modern American university is more complex in organization than its Germanic prototype. It has added other schools or departments. Schools of dentistry, of various branches of engineering, of agriculture, of veterinary medicine, etc., are now frequently included in a single university. The University of California, for instance, has 14 such schools or departments; the University of Chicago, also 14; the University of Illinois, 12; the University of Michigan, 8. As each new profession develops, a special school designed to give the training requisite for it is added to the university. 1 Compare p. 14. 2 In some institutions the various departments are also called colleges, as, for example, college of medicine, college of education, etc. 3 Thus, for instance, the type of institutions known as the Technische Hochschule in Germany, or the École Polytechnique in France, is in the United States commonly a school or department of the university. In this manner, schools of commerce, of business administration, of domestic science, of ceramics, and of journalism have recently been established at a number of the larger universities. The process will undoubtedly continue with the further multiplication of the professions. The term "university," however, has as yet no fixed connotation. The laws of the several States governing the incorporation of higher institutions vary greatly. Some require substantial assurance that an institution applying for charter will conform to the accepted standards of the designation which it seeks. In some States, on the other hand, it is possible to secure a university charter on the strength of prospects and good intentions alone. Even before the evolution of true universities, it was common for colleges offering nothing but a single course leading to the bachelor's degree to be chartered as universities. The name, therefore, antedated the thing. Many of these colleges still retain the name without having developed into universities. In certain sections of the country and in the minds of certain persons the college and the university are thus very naturally confused. No distinction is made between the two institutions. This confusion is the more readily understood if one recalls the fact that practically all the larger, thoroughly organized universities maintain a college department. A student who attends the college of arts and sciences of Cornell or the college of letters of the University of California is a member of the university and by tacit consent is allowed to call himself a "university student;" but his educational status is exactly the same as that of a student of Amherst College or Hamilton College, neither of which has any professional departments. Yet the student of the isolated college, like the two just mentioned, calls himself a "college student." In the references made to universities throughout this pamphlet the term will be used in its strictest sense, i. e., to designate institutions maintaining professional departments and conferring advanced degrees. Of these, there are already several score in the United States. A comparative view of the best American universities would show an organization of schools and departments substantially as recorded below. Not all the departments mentioned are represented in every one of the strongest universities. This summary is intended rather to show the scope of university education than to describe conditions actually existing in any particular university. Detailed accounts of the organization and requirements of certain institutions selected to illustrate the best developments of American higher education appear in Section VI. CHAPTER II. ORGANIZATION OF THE TYPICAL UNIVERSITY. THE COLLEGE OR SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES. The core of every university, except one,' is the college, variously called the college of arts and sciences, the college of letters, the department of arts and sciences, the undergraduate department, etc. Whatever its name, its scope and character are everywhere approximately the same. It offers to graduates of secondary schools2 a four-year course of study, leading usually to the degree of bachelor of arts or bachelor of science, or some other baccalaureate degree.3 Generally the work is in part prescribed according to one of two methods. Certain subjects, such as English, one or more modern languages, Latin, a science, history, and mathematics are required of all students; or the courses are arranged in groups centering about a single subject, and each student may choose the group which best suits his individual tastes and purposes. In either case, a considerable portion of his course is elective; i. e., he may select at will from the subjects offered by the college enough to make up the number of courses required for graduation. The undergraduate department of Harvard University, called Harvard College, gives instruction in the following subjects: Anthropology, astronomy, botany, Celtic, chemistry, classical philology, comparative literature, comparative philology, economics, education, Egyptology, engineering sciences, English, fine arts, French, geology and geography, German, government, Greek, history, history of religions, history of science, Indic philology, Italian, Latin, mathematics, mineralogy and petrography, music, Netherlandish, palaeontology, philosophy, physics, physiology, public speaking, Romance languages and literatures, Romance philology, Scandinavian, Semitic languages and history, Slavic languages, social ethics, Spanish, zoology. This list will indicate the possible range of undergraduate study in the best American universities. Collegiate instruction is carried on by means of lectures, recitations, discussions, laboratory practice, and various kinds of written. exercises. In the work of the first two years and in the elementary courses in all subjects, it has a tendency to be somewhat formal. 1 Clark University. In addition to the public high schools (see above), there are many private secondary schools which offer four or five year courses and which maintain approximately the same standards as the public high schools. The curriculum of the secondary school is discussed below (see p. 94). Students from other countries may enter American universities upon presenting evidence of preparation equivalent to that demanded of American students. The colleges of arts and sciences of most universities give entrance examinations to candidates for admission whose scholastic preparation has been secured in a school the standing of which is unknown to the university officers. (See also p. 59 and following.) There is still a wide variation in the standards of collegiate institutions, and consequently in the value of degrees. For further discussion of this condition, see note 1, p. 24. The instructors assign definite tasks at each meeting of the class: A certain portion of the subject is to be mastered, a prescribed laboratory experiment is to be performed, a theme written on a specified subject, or a fixed number of pages read. At a subsequent meeting, students are tested on the assignment. In the later years of the course there is less formal prescription, and the student is thrown as far as possible on his own resources. His knowledge is tested by periodic examinations. Because of the long period devoted to elementary and secondary training, American college students are generally older than students of other countries who have reached the same stage of academic advancement. The average age of entrance to American colleges is between 18 and 19 years, the average age of graduation between 22 and 23. A few colleges, however, allow students to complete the course in three years by taking extra work. 1 Coordinate with the undergraduate department of arts and sciences is the school of applied science or engineering. This offers to graduates of secondary schools a four-year course leading to the degree of B. S. in some division of engineering, e. g., civil, mechanical, mining, metallurgical, electrical, hydraulic, architectural, chemical, and sanitary engineering. In some institutions work in these various branches is organized in separate schools, e. g., school of mining engineering, school of civil engineering. The first part of the courses in engineering is devoted particularly to a thorough grounding in mathematics, physics, and chemistry, the fundamental sciences upon which all engineering work rests. The course of study for the first year is frequently uniform for students in all branches of engineering; indeed, the present tendency is toward a still greater measure of uniformity in the early years, followed by specialization in the last year or the last two years. The school or college of engineering, with its various divisions, is in the scheme of American education an undergraduate department coordinate with the college of liberal arts, admitting students with the same preparation and giving its graduates the bachelor's degree.3 It is, nevertheless, in spirit and tendency a professional school, fitting young men for the immediate practice of their professions as a means 1 The word "school" is perhaps the most common of the designations of the separate divisions of a university, e. g., medical school, law school, school of commerce. Many universities, however, employ the terms "department" or "college" instead. (See above.) 2 The degree given on the completion of one of these courses is not always B. S. Cornell, for example, gives the degree of M. E. to those who have completed courses in mechanical, electrical, or mining engineering. * A few institutions, e. g., Columbia and Harvard, have made the school of engineering or applied science a graduate department. (See Sec. VI, and p. 159.) |