Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/177

* COLLEGES. 145 COLLEGES. of applied science; and llie appcar.ince of higher institutiuns under the support and control of the States, notably in the West and the South. In majiy of the colleges, also, e.g. Harvard, Yale, and Columbia, the inllucnce of the sectarian ele- ment in control has largely disappeared. The development about the nucleus of a college of liberal arts of colleges for special professional instruction has led to the university, so called, although many institutions bearing that name give very little attention to graduate instruc- tion of the true university character. At first, the Colonial colleges took from the grammar schools students who had barely at- tained a fair knowledge of Latin. As the char- acter of secondarj' instruction grew better, the entrance requirements of the colleges grew se- verer. As a result, the average age of entrance of students increased, until at Harvard it is at present over nineteen, an age at which students were commonly graduated in the earlier history of the institution. The curriculum, originally limited to Latin, Greek, a little mathematics, logic, metaphj'sics, rhetoric, and theology, was ex- tended by the introduction, in the latter part of the eighlJeenth century, of astronomy and natural philosophy, and, early in the nineteenth century, of modern languages and the elements of the natural and political sciences. This process of expansion led, by the middle of the nineteenth century, to the elective system (see Elective CouRSE.s), fostered by President Wayland of Brown Universitj', and later by President Eliot of Harvard. President Barnard of Columbia, and President Taijjian of ilichigan. Certain work ■was still prescribed to the student, but new work was oft'ered from which lie was allowed to make a choice. Then, at many colleges, various courses were established, among which election could be made. The required subjects in each course were from some general field, as science, literature, modern languages, or classics, and distinct degrees, as B.S., PhB., B.L., etc., were bestowed upon the graduates of the different courses. Brown, Jlichigan, and Western institutions, generally, illustrate this plan. Finally, at Harvard in 18!), the right of election was extended to all subjects beyond the first year, the degree of A.B. being given to all graduates of the college of liberal arts. To emphasize the equality of different lines of ork thus elected, the Stanford Univer- sity has adopted the policy of granting this de- gree even to those whose work has been almost entirely in the sciences. Cornell, too, has in this, as in many other respects, assumed the most lib- eral attitude in its educational aims. Along Avith the development of broader curric- ula, and elective subjects and courses, has come the establishment of special professional col- leges and colleges of apiilied science. Medical schools had appeared at the University of Penn- sylvania and at Columbia and Harvard in the eighteenth century. Law schools were foimded earl}' in the nineteenth century, and scientific schools soon after. Some of these institutions were alliliatcd with older colleges, others were tstablished independently. The year 184(3 saw the foundation of the Union College of Civil Engineering, the Sheffield Scientific School, Yale; and the next year the Scientific School at Harvard v/as -established. Finally, there ap- jjeared the extension of the work of the liberal arts college into further fields of scholarship and research, the organization of wnich has given rise to the graduate departments, the uni- versities proper of the United States. (See Uni- versity.) But the distinction of the university from the college or group of colleges for luider- graduatcs has not yet 'iieeu clearly made. Some institutions calling themselves universities are merely colleges: others consist of .several under- gr.adnate colleges; in a few cases the name "uni- versity' is restricted to purely graduate depart- ments. It must be added that the professional col- leges of law, medicine, and theology are coming to have more and nunc the chaiacter of gradiuite schools. In ISOG Harvard required all students entering the law scliool to be college graduates. A similar requirement exists in its medical school, and practically in its divinity school as well. Like steps are being taken at Cidum- bia, and the matter is being agitated generally throughout the country. It must be noted, how- ever, that so far no important movement has been set on foot to make the colleges of applied science graduate schools. In case they follow in the path of the schools of law, etc., the special preparation for the higher professions, together with higher training in research and scholarsliip. will be left to the university, while the college will re])resent a higher liberal course prepara- tory to these. As it is, the word college is ap- plied either to (1) liberal arts colleges, or (2) professional colleges admitting undergraduates: and colleges of either type may be parts of uni- versities or separate institutions. The character of the infiuences and the life surrounding the student in the college which has grown into a large university is essentially different from that to be met with in the smaller colleges which have continued to work in the spirit of the old Colonial institutions. The smaller college affords less opportunity for elec- tion, thus bringing about greater uniformity in the work pursued. While it does not allow so much for individual peculiarities, it provides greater chance for intimate social intercourse among students, and between them and the fac- ulty, and for a firmer grip of the latter in disci- pline. The educational aim is frankly liberal and social rather than special and individual. Fraternities are an important feature in the social life, athletics prosper, and college spirit is strong. The faculty is even more .a teaching body than a learned one, the reverse of which tends to be the case in the larger universities, ^lany believe that the smaller college affords a better liberal education for one who will later take up a profession or pursue special lines of research at a university. Again, the entrance requirements of the smaller college are often not quite so severe as at the university college, and this makes possible a shortening of the long period of preparation for a profession. On the other hand, the attendance at the smaller college is not increasing in proportion to that in the col- legiate departments of the universities. The length of the liberal college course has been a matter of much agitation. ]Many advocate its reduction to three years; and President Butler, of Columbia, in his first annual report to the trustees of that university, proposed to award the B..-. degree at the end of the second year of im- dergraduate study. According to the present sys-