in Washington City. The founding of such a university was the dream of
Washington and other great statesmen. This is the most strategic
educational center in America. The scientific and literary treasures
of the government, aggregating a cost of more than $33,000,000, and
maintained at an annual expense of three and one-half millions of
dollars, will be at the service of this university. The funds of the
university will not be tied up in expensive buildings and equipment,
but, like the great German universities, employed in paying
enthusiastic professors of the broadest scholarship and culture to
instruct graduate students in every department of learning, and to
widen the horizon of knowledge. This is certainly one of the most
magnificent opportunities in the history of the Christian Church to
establish a powerful and comprehensive agency to help uphold and
expand and organize a Christian civilization. It will gain an
increasing power through coming generations.
The Federal Government has, likewise, favored and materially
encouraged the cause of education. The wisest statesmen believe that
the colleges are not solely the auxiliary of the churches, but that
they have an equal value to the State. They firmly believe that
education is essential to the general good of the community, and
worthy of favorable legislation. "During the first century of its
existence, the United States made land grants for educational purposes
of nearly 80,000,000 acres, a territory greater than all the landed
area of Great Britain and Ireland, and more than half of all France.
What a tribute to learning this munificence presents. Of these gifts
it is estimated that more than 80 per cent. went to permanent funds
for the elementary schools."
The spirit of the American people was shown in the Magna Charta of the
Northwest, framed in 1787, which declared that "Religion, morality and
knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of
mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be
encouraged." In obedience to this spirit, the Federal government made
grants of land to encourage and support institutions of learning, as
follows: "One section of land in every township for common schools,
and not less than two townships in every State for founding a
university." Appropriations have since been made by the general
government to establish and foster State universities. In 1862, the
Morrill act was passed by Congress, whereby a liberal grant was made
to provide for "the endowment, support and maintenance of at least one
college, where the leading object should be, without excluding other
scientific and classical studies, and including military tactics, to
teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and
mechanic arts, in such manner as the legislature of the States may
prescribe, in order to promote the liberal and practical education of
the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions of
life." This act was supplemented in 1890 by an additional provision of
$25,000 a year for the better equipment and endowment of each of the
colleges of agriculture and mechanic arts. The land grant made by the
general government to all the States aggregated 9,597,840 acres, from
which was realized $15,866,371.
The Hatch act of 1887 made generous Federal provision for the
establishment of agricultural experiment stations "for the
investigation of the laws and principles that govern the successful
and profitable tillage of the soil."
The State universities numbered 30 in 1890, having 12,846 students and
964 instructors. The value of the grounds and buildings aggregated
$15,146,588, and the productive fund $10,411,964. The total income for
the State schools reached the handsome sum of $2,176,250. These State
universities have become fixed factors in our civilization, and give
promise of accomplishing a great work for the people. What the
character of the work shall be, remains with the American people to
decide.
This century has witnessed in the United States the beginning and
growth of _Colleges for Women_. This is the fruit of the increasing
development of the idea and sentiment in favor of women sharing with
men in the privileges of the highest culture and all rational
enjoyment. Exclusive privileges and distinctions on account of sex are
contrary to the character and genius of a free people. "If," says
President Dwight, "education is for the growth of the human mind--the
personal human mind--and if the glory of it is in upbuilding and
outbuilding of the mind, the womanly mind is just as important, just
as beautiful, just as much a divine creation with wide-reaching
possibilities as the manly mind. When we have in our vision serious
thought as the working force and end of education, the woman makes the
same claim with the man, and her claim rests, at its deepest
foundation, upon the same grand idea." The history of the movement in
favor of the collegiate education of women is interesting and
instructive. One of the first steps in this direction was taken by
Mrs. Emma Willard, who opened a school for girls in Middlebury,
Vermont, in 1808, which in 1819 was removed to Waterford, New York.
Two years later she founded the Troy Female Seminary. Education for
women received a new impulse through Miss Catharine E. Beecher, who,
in 1822, opened at Hartford, Conn., an academy for girls, and it met
with excellent success. Further efforts were made to extend education
to young women of more mature years and give them the advantages of an
intellectual training equal with that of colleges for men. The
Wesleyan Seminary for women was founded at Kent's Hill, Maine, in
1821, and Granville College for women in 1834. Through the earnest
effort of Miss Mary Lyon, Mount Holyoke Female Seminary was
incorporated February 10, 1836. The Elmira Female College was founded
in 1855. These colleges multiplied rapidly and now there are more than
two hundred institutions of higher learning devoted exclusively to the
education of women.
Colleges for women have been quite liberally endowed by high-minded
and generous individuals, and the stability and permanency of these
colleges have thus been secured. Vassar College was incorporated in
1861. Mr. Matthew Vassar, the founder, gave 200 acres of land near
Poughkeepsie, on the Hudson, which with his other gifts aggregated
$788,000. The total productive endowment in 1892 was $1,018,000, and
the value of the grounds, buildings, etc., was $792,080 additional.
Wellesley College was founded by H. F. Durant in 1875, at Wellesley,
near Boston. He gave 400 acres of land and an endowment of more than
one million dollars. Smith College was founded through the beneficence
of Sophia Smith, who gave $400,000. Bryn Mawr, near Philadelphia, was
opened in 1885, through the generosity of J. W. Taylor, M. D., whose
gifts amounted to $1,000,000.
In 1890, there were 179 colleges devoted exclusively to the education
of women, having grounds and buildings valued at $11,559,379, with
scientific apparatus valued at $419,000 more, and the productive
funds aggregated $2,609,661. The total number of students in these
colleges for the same year was 24,851, and taught by 2,299 teachers.
The co-education of the sexes in colleges is also constantly growing
in favor among those colleges which have given it the most thorough
trial. Two hundred and seventy-two colleges in this country, or 65.5
per cent., excluding those devoted exclusively to the education of
women, are open equally to both sexes. The favorable results as to
scholarship, manners and morals of the two sexes have abundantly
confirmed the wisdom of this method. The question of co-education has
its complications, but with proper restrictions these are not serious.
There is no more danger of women developing bold or masculine
qualities of character in a college where co-education exists than in
the high schools, or in social and business life outside of college.
The charm and beauty of a lady are found in the qualities of modesty
and grace. The private life of the ladies attending a college where
co-education exists is in most cases so regulated as to secure such
home care and retirement as will help to preserve the charming
qualities of womanhood. The ladies in these schools gain a certain
poise and independence without boldness, which is of inestimable
advantage. Aside from this they get a knowledge of character and life
that is not likely to be secured in any other way.
The growth of the colleges since the war in the sixteen Southern
States for both white and black population is very encouraging. Fully
one-third of the colleges and universities and one-third of the
instructors and students of the nation are located in the Southern
States. Many of these colleges are only first-class academies, but
they are doing an excellent service. Benefactions in behalf of higher
education in the South have been something phenomenal in the history
of philanthropic work. The Peabody Fund for education in the South
was $3,100,000. The Slater Fund $1,000,000. Tulane and Vanderbilt each
gave $1,500,000 towards founding universities in the South. It is
estimated that more than $20,000,000 have been given by special donors
for this purpose since the war. This vast sum has been augmented by
the annual gifts of the churches for this object. The Methodist
Episcopal Church had expended up to 1892 the sum of $6,187,630.46 to
promote higher institutions of learning among both white and black
population in the South.
Other denominations have given largely in the same direction. These
benefactions have given new impulses to the cause of education, which
have been of vital importance in the regeneration of the social
conditions of this section of the country. The annual outlay for
schools in the Southern States increased from $11,400,000 in 1878 to
$20,000,000 in 1888. All these educational influences have contributed
to establish a New South that presages far-reaching possibilities for
good for all time to come.
The growth, number and progress of the American colleges and
universities is more and more attracting the attention of the
civilized world. In 1890, they numbered 415, with grounds and
buildings valued at $65,000,000, with scientific apparatus and
libraries valued at $9,000,000, and the productive endowment funds
aggregated $75,000,000. The total income of these higher institutions
of learning from all sources was $11,000,000.
The colleges and universities and professional schools in the United
States for the same year contained 135,242 students and 7,819
instructors. In the colleges and universities alone there were 46,131
men and 11,992 women. There were 34,964 in the normal schools, 6,349
in agricultural and mechanical colleges, and 35,806 in the various
professional schools. Besides, there were 117 medical schools with
4,552 students, and 145 theological schools with 7,013 students, and
54 law schools having 5,518 students.
These facts give us some faint conception of the extensive educational
agencies which have been provided, chiefly by private enterprise and
by the churches, for higher education.
It is claimed by some that the number of colleges in this country
exceeds at present the demand. It should be remembered, however, that
we are building for a population that is likely to reach 500,000,000
people. There is no doubt but that the planting and expansion of
colleges on a meager basis has been somewhat over done. The duty of
the hour is for the American people to cease establishing more
colleges, and to give their attention to strengthening those already
founded, in order that they may increase their power and efficiency.
The founders have planted better than they knew. The unfavorable
conditions and sacrifice surrounding many of their beginnings
strengthen the desire that these colleges may grow and flourish with
each succeeding generation, and continue in their beneficent work of
moulding Christian character and promoting human brotherhood.
III.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE.
The American college occupies a distinctive place among the
educational systems of the world. It differs from the English and
Scotch systems, and is diverse in form and purpose from the German
university system. The American college signifies more than the
English _Grammar_ school, the French _Lycee_ or the German
_Gymnasium_, and its course of study is broader and more
comprehensive. The German _gymnasia_ hold the place of our high
schools and academies, and their course of study carries the student
through what is an equivalent to our Sophomore year in college.
The colleges established in the early history of our country were
shaped in some measure after the English model, but the American
college of to-day "is the bright consummate flower of democracy." We
may apply to it what Lowell says of Lincoln:
"For him her old-world moulds aside she threw,
And choosing sweet clay from the breast
Of the unexhausted West,
With stuff untainted shaped a hero new."
The American colleges have held fast to the best of the ancient
learning and utilized the best experiences and ideas of the English,
German and French systems of education, and mapped out a distinctive
system for themselves. They have sought to meet the needs of our age
and the requirements of our generation, and we have as a product the
modern American college, adapted to the wants of the people and the
formation of a strong national character.
The American people believe in individual rights and personal
sovereignty. They have accordingly shaped their institutions in
harmony with this view. In Germany the man is educated largely for
the State, but here we educate the man as a citizen and as an
individual whose intrinsic dignity and value are worthy of training.
The American college makes adequate provision for the full development
of all the human powers and the exercise of the functions of the
noblest manhood and womanhood. Her halls have always been wide open to
all the youth of the land, who have gathered by the thousand to drink
in "the American spirit of freedom and brotherhood of mankind, of
reverence for God, for law, for the Bible and for the Sabbath." Our
colleges have been built up through the generous and effective support
of the several churches, and of the patriotic people. For more than
two and a half centuries it has been the settled policy of the
American people to maintain and perpetuate colleges. They are deeply
rooted in the hearts of the people, since they are the offspring of
their free-offerings and voluntary sacrifices.
A few unthinking people are indifferent and fail to see and realize
the vital relations the colleges sustain to the national welfare; but
the more enlightened public opinion is eager and restless for their
advancement and influence. Our colleges are the pride and the crowning
glory of the American people. They bring the nation more renown than
all her fertile plains, rich treasures and splendid palaces.
In order to particularize some of the distinctive features of the
American college, we need to understand our educational system as a
whole. We start with the public school and impart to the youth a
primary education. In the high school or academy the pupil is
introduced into a higher circle of thought and life and then passes on
to the college, where the aim is to extend general culture and prepare
for special work. The educational system culminates in the university,
which is devoted chiefly to technical and professional education.
These educational agencies do not differ in kind, but in degree. There
is not as yet, however, a sufficient co-ordination of them to secure
the greatest economy of time and strength in mental effort. The
richest and broadest culture and scholarship demand a friendly and
harmonious relation between all of these educational agencies. We are
approaching co-operation and unity on these lines, but there are
practical difficulties which it is hoped that time will help to solve.
One of the difficulties has been that the standard of admission into
many of our colleges has outgrown the capacity of the high schools. In
order to supply the need of a more thorough preparation, a preparatory
department has been maintained in many colleges. The present aim and
tendency of our educational system is to introduce the pupil from the
high school to the rank of Freshman in college. This condition can not
become general unless there be a greater differentiation in the
courses of study in our high schools. It is encouraging to see that
in many States the high schools, academies and colleges are coming to
a helpful understanding of each other's province, and that there is a
practical agreement among them regarding a uniform minimum requirement
for entrance into the Freshman class in college.
The prescribed _courses of study_ in the average American college are
broad and comprehensive. They cover the general field of knowledge.
The regular parallel courses of study are usually designated
Classical, Scientific, Literary and Philosophical. These special
arrangements aim to encourage thought and study along different lines.
The groupings vary according to the time devoted to the study of
languages and other special branches. Each of the courses includes the
study of language, mathematics, science, mental and moral philosophy,
and covers a period of four years, generally designated Freshman,
Sophomore, Junior and Senior years. As a rule, in the Classical
course the study of Greek and Latin is required, while Greek is
omitted in the Scientific course, and more attention is given to the
study of the sciences. The Literary and Philosophical courses
substitute one or more of the modern languages for the ancient
classics. The number of these courses may be multiplied indefinitely,
especially in the universities where the grouping of studies is
essential to the highest success.
The work of _the college and the university_ so overlap each other
that it is difficult to make clear their distinction. The word
university is an elastic term in the United States, because until
within a brief period we have had nothing more than colleges. Many of
our colleges are called universities because of their chartered
privileges, but their aim is to become universities in fact.
Hence the terms are often used interchangeably. The few universities
we have are modelled largely after those in Germany and have grown up
by a natural development out of colleges. The reverse is true in
England, where the college has grown up within the university. The
college originally signified a society of scholars. In this country it
is an incorporated school of instruction in the liberal arts, having
one faculty, with advanced courses of study.
The college and university differ first in their _aim_. The college
endeavors to discipline the mind and form character for the broader
work in a chosen field of university study. The thorough scholastic
training is now regarded quite an essential preparation for the more
advanced work of the university. On the other hand, the university
aims at universal culture, and includes, if possible, every
description of knowledge for the training of specialists in the
various professions. Its aim is rather to do graduate work
exclusively.
Again they differ in their _courses of study_. In the college, the
courses of study include the higher branches of learning; and are so
arranged as to give the student an outline survey of the field of
knowledge. The study is largely restricted to preparing the student
for his advanced professional and technical work. The university goes
further and arranges its courses of study so as to supplement the
instruction given in college and direct the student in an advanced
grade of work in any department of intellectual life. The courses have
the broadest scope and embrace departments in liberal arts, law,
medicine, theology and science, each having a faculty composed of able
professors. Gladstone gives the true historic idea of a university in
these words: "To methodize, perpetuate and apply all knowledge which
exists and to adopt and take up into itself every new branch as it
comes successively into existence."
The college and the university likewise differ in their _methods of
work_. The college seeks the highest results in discipline. Its method
is more formal and didactic. In the later years of the college course
a certain amount of specialization is usually allowed, both for the
ends of discipline and as a provision for the work of the university
proper. The university adopts methods of work along the line of
original discovery, literary productivity, and the advancement of the
kingdom of knowledge. The inspiring aim of the university is the
discovery of truth. The student imbued with the spirit of research
passes from the known to the unknown, and feels that he lives in an
atmosphere of investigation, and in the center of the latest thought.
Finally, they differ in their resources. The college is usually
limited in its means and appliances. On the contrary, the university,
with abundant resources, great libraries and laboratories, affords a
broader scope and wider opportunities for work and growth.
The _State and denominational colleges_ have a common intellectual
aim. The first of the two often have larger resources and aim to give
more instruction in "practical affairs." Both State and
denominational colleges are generous and liberal in their spirit and
teaching. It is somewhat unfortunate that there should have arisen any
occasion for criticism by the friends of either the State universities
or of those under denominational control. One class of critics are
ready to declare that the colleges and universities under Protestant
denominational control are sectarian. Whereas it is unfair to
designate such colleges as sectarian, since as a class they are not
founded solely in the interest of any single Christian sect and are
not intolerant and bigoted. They set up no denominational standard for
entrance, and teach no particular creed or dogma, but extend their
privileges equally to all and on the same basis as the State
universities. Hence, they are denominational, but not sectarian.
It is equally unfair to assert that our State universities are godless
and run by political parties. The managers of them have possibly laid
themselves open to this criticism because they often fail to
recognize either the scientific bases or practical value of religion
and do not permit it to rank equally with the other sciences in the
courses of study. The right policy would not necessarily involve the
teaching of religious dogma, but only of facts concerning man's
spiritual nature, and the relative importance of the Christian
religion among the religious systems of the world to meet the demands
of man as a religious being. No reasonable man in a Christian nation
should object to this recognition of the science of religion. The
State universities should be at least religious in character without
having any denominational bias. The teaching of dogma in our colleges
for the sake of dogma would be narrow bigotry and rightly deserving of
censure. The State universities are as likely to be open to this
charge as the denominational colleges. The dogmas of scientists,
politicians, legalists and physicians are as intolerant and engender
as much strife as those of theologians. We are glad to believe
however, that the dogmatic spirit in all lines of study is fast
disappearing from our American colleges, and from the professions.
Again, the majority of the professors in the State universities are
avowedly Christian. Possibly one-third of the State universities have
Christian clergymen for presidents. After careful inquiry from those
in a position to know, it was ascertained that in one of the oldest
State universities there were eight professors out of more than one
hundred who were unbelievers or skeptics, and in one of the youngest
there were but three known skeptics among more than eighty professors.
Even this small number should not be possible, because one
"anti-Christian sophist or a velvet-footed infidel" may work moral and
religious disaster to the young in any college. "A college," remarks
President Gates, "must be either avowedly and openly Christian, or by
the very absence of avowed Christian influence it will be strongly
and decidedly un-Christian in its effects upon students."