PART III.

CHAPTER XXXVL

INSTITUTIONS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION.

STATISTICAL REVIEW OF HIGHER EDUCATION, 1896-97.

The scholastic year 1896-97 has witnessed a decrease in the attendance of students at a large number of institutions for higher education, as well as a decrease in the number of such institutions. This office has been notified during the year of the suspension of the following-named institutions: Little Rock University, Little Rock, Ark.; Pierce Christian College, College City, Cal.; San Joaquin Valley College, Woodbridge, Cal.; Hartsville College, Hartsville, Ind.; Northwestern Christian College, Excelsior, Minn.; Ozark College, Greenfield, Mo.: Ashland University, Ashland, Ohio; Monongahela College, Jefferson, Pa.; St. James College, Vancouver, Wash.; Jones College for Young Ladies, Gadsden, Ala.; Winchester Female College, Winchester, Ky., and Wesleyan Female Institute, Staunton, Va. A further decrease in the list of institutions for higher education was caused by the transfer to the list of secondary schools of four institutions. Also, St. Mary's College, Oakland, Cal.; Calvin College, Cleveland, Ohio, and Redfield College, Redfield, S. Dak., have not been heard from for several years, and therefore are not included in the list of colleges.

One of the most discouraging features in our system of higher education is the lack of any definite, or, in fact, in a large number of States, the lack of any requirements or conditions exacted of institutions when they are chartered and authorized to confer degrees. This condition of affairs is largely, if not entirely, responsible for the large number of weak so-called colleges and universities scattered throughout our country, institutions that are no better than high schools, and in a large number of cases do not furnish as good an education as may be obtained in good secondary schools. Nevertheless, these institutions are chartered and granted authority to confer all degrees usually granted by universities and colleges in the United States. The chartering of such institutions has been rendered impossible in the States of New York and Pennsylvania, and the subject of restricting to well-equipped institutions the authority to confer degrees is being agitated in several other States. That such action is desirable, if not absolutely necessary, may be seen from the fact, as stated in the report of the State superintendent of public instruction of Pennsylvania for 1896, that more than 120 institutions in that State have been empowered to confer degrees.

Students. The total number of students reported in the collegiate, graduate, and professional departments of institutions for higher education and in professional schools for the year 1896-97 is 140,133, of which number 42,999 were enrolled as professional students pursuing studies in law, medicine, and theology, leaving 97.134 students reported as pursuing what are generally known as liberal studies. This is a decrease of 255 students from the number reported in the preceding year, the loss being in the institutions classed as universities and colleges for men and for both sexes. An examination of Table 2 of this chapter shows that the number of undergraduate and graduate students reported by public institutions is 27,654, being an increase of 1,358 students, thus proving that the decrease was in the institutions not under the control of the State or municipality.

Table 3 gives the number of collegiate and graduate students from the several States and Territories in universities and colleges for men and for both sexes, colleges for women, Division A, and in schools of technology, the estimated population of each State, and the number of people to each college student. In this compilation the colleges for women, Division B (Table 39), are not included, owing to the fact that in a large number of these institutions the students are not classified in such manner as to enable one to separate the primary and preparatory from the collegiate students, while in other cases the residence of students is not given in the catalogues of the institutions. The drawing power of the institutions of the several States, as shown by the number and proportion of students drawn from the various sections of the country, is shown in Tables 4, 5, and 6. From Table 6 it is seen that 803 students from foreign countries are receiving collegiate and graduate instruction in the United States.

The number of students who remain at college pursuing advanced studies after having completed courses of study leading to a bachelor's degree is constantly increasing. The total number of such students reported in 1896-97 by all classes of institutions is 4,919, of which number 1,413 were women. These numbers do not include the students who remain at college for the purpose of pursuing professional studies in law, medicine, theology, etc. The following tabular statement gives the number of resident graduate students in the several departments of some of the principal universities and colleges of the country:

According to the report of President Gilman of Johns Hopkins University for the year 1896-97, 2,103 persons have pursued graduate studies at that institution since its establishment, of which number 436 have been given the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

38

37

75

30

48

78

91

91

39

39

37

37

49

49

46

46

45

45

42

42

The following diagrams, based on figures in the Handbook of Graduate Courses for 1897-98, published by the Federation of Graduate Clubs, show the popularity of the several branches of study among graduate students. The statistics were collected from 24 of the leading institutions of the country, and should therefore be fairly representative of graduate work. There are included in the investigation 3,204 students, divided among the various branches of study as follows:

Philosophy and Ethics, 519.

History, Politics, Law, 488.

English, 423.

Classics, 379.

Economics, Sociology, Anthropology, 377.

Psychology, Pedagogy, 298.

German, 287.

Biology, 271.

Mathematics, 247.

Chemistry, 208.

Romance Languages, 196.

Physics, 189.

Geology, Geography, 143.

Indo-Iranian and Comparative Philology, 138.

Semitics, 129.

Astronomy, 51.

Fine Arts and History of Art, 37.

Grouping the above subjects under five general headings, it is found that the groups were chosen by the students in the following proportion:

Courses of study. - A large number of institutions for higher education maintain professional, technical, and special courses of study in addition to the usual studies required in an undergraduate course. In some cases these studies may be counted toward fulfilling the requirements for one of the more common degrees, while in other cases special degrees are conferred on the completion of such courses. Table 41 gives the courses maintained by the universities and colleges for men and for both sexes, and Table 42 gives the courses maintained by schools of technology. These tables show that instruction in agriculture is given by 53 institutions, architecture by 16, art by 175, business or commercial courses by 216, civil engineering by 92, domestic science by 34, dentistry by 22, electrical engineering by 70, law by 73, mechanical engineering by 73, mining engineering by 33, medicine by 57, military science or tactics by 104, music by 328, pedagogy by 211, pharmacy by 30, sanitary engineering by 12, theology by 90, and veterinary science by 27. Besides the courses included in Tables 41 and 42, it is found that instruction in naval architecture and marine engineering is given by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Michigan, and Cornell University, and instruction

ED 97-104

in bibliography is offered by the Leland Stanford Junior University, Columbian University, University of Illinois, University of Michigan, Dartmouth College, Cornell University, and Syracuse University.

Preparation of freshmen. -Tables 13, 21, and 32 show the number and proportion of freshmen prepared by the different kinds or institutions for secondary instruction as reported by a number of institutions for higher education. The results obtained from the statistics of the three classes of institutions reporting are as follows:

Degrees. The number of degrees, excluding degrees in law, medicine, theology, dentistry, pharmacy, and veterinary medicine, conferred in 1896-97 by institutions for higher education may be found in Tables 14, 15, 16, 22, 27, 33, and 34. According to the reports received there were conferred 315 Ph. D. degrees, of which number 285 were conferred on examination and 30 were conferred as honorary degrees. In view of the efforts that are now being made to prevent the conferring of the Ph. D. degree except upon examination after a certain time spent in graduate work, it may be interesting to state that nearly all of the honorary Ph. D. degrees conferred in 1897 were granted by institutions doing very little, if any, graduate work. The following resolutions adopted by by the Convention of the Federation of Graduate Clubs, December 29, 1896, clearly indicate the sentiments of graduate students concerning the conferring of honorary degrees: "Resolved, That it is the sense of this convention

"1. That it is inexpedient for any institution to give the same degrees honoris causa as it grants in regular course on examination.

"2. That in every case the reasons for bestowing an honorary degree should be openly avowed and should be stated in the programme of the commencement exercises and in the annual catalogue.

"3. That bachelor degrees are inappropriate as honorary degrees or ex gratia, and should be made to signify always the completion of a recognized grade of undergraduate work in their respective departments.

"4. That the master's degree should never be granted except for resident graduate study of at least one year's duration, tested by adequate examination. "5. That the minimum requirements for the degree of doctor of philosophy should be as follows:

"a. The previous attainment of a bachelor's degree or its equivalent. "b. The completion of at least two years of resident graduate study; not more than one year, however, to be required in residence at the institution conferring the degree.

"c. Adequate examination and a thesis embodying the results of original research. Such thesis should bear the written acceptance of the professor or department in charge of the major subject, and should be accompanied by a short biography of the candidate.

"6. That the degrees of Ph. D., Sc. D., M. D., and Pd. D. should never be given honoris causa nor in absentia. L. H. D., S. T. D., D. D., LL. D., D. C. L., and Mus. D. are recognized as honorary degrees."

The tables concerning degrees show that there were conferred 11,405 bachelor degrees in course, excluding professional degrees, of which number 7,999 were conferred on men and 3,406 on women. Of the total number, 6,233, or more than one-half, were A. B. degrees.

Private study.

The number of honorary degrees reported as having been conferred in 1896-97 is 791, of which number 590 were doctorates. The 791 degrees were divided among 23 different designations. 7 of which were represented by but 1 degree, 2 by 2 degrees, 3 by 3 degrees, 2 by 5 degrees, 1 by 7 degrees, 1 by 10 degrees, 1 by 13 degrees, 1 by 14 degrees, 1 by 15 degrees, 1 by 30 degrees, 1 by 163 degrees, 1 by 186 degrees, and 1 (D. D.) by 323 degrees.

Property. The total amount of money invested in institutions for higher education, as reported by the institutions, is $295,816,887, of which $128,191,974 consists of interest-bearing funds, while the remainder is the value of the grounds, buildings, and equipment used for instruction and research. Of the total amount of endowment funds, 51.7 per cent is held by the institutions of the North Atlantic Division.

The past few years have witnessed the expenditure of large sums of money for buildings by a number of the universities and colleges of the country. Extraordinary expenditures for such purposes were caused by the removal to new sites of Columbia University, New York University, and Barnard College, New York City, and the erection of dormitories by the University of Pennsylvania.

The University of California is now making preparations for extensive building operations and has invited the cooperation of the architects and artists of every land and clime in the preparation of a plan for an ideal home of education. The purpose is to secure a plan to which all the buildings that may be needed in the future shall conform. All the buildings that have been constructed up to the present time are to be ignored and the grounds are to be treated as a blank space, to be filled with a single beautiful and harmonious picture. There are to be at least twenty-eight buildings. About $5,000,000 has already been pledged for a beginning, and such a general desire to contribute has been manifested that it is thought that all funds required will be forthcoming as fast as the work can be carried on.

Income. The total income reported by the institutions for higher education for the year 1896-97 was $25,608,446, of which amount $9,585,772, or 37.4 per cent, was derived from tuition fees. The receipts from endowment funds were $6,191,204, being an income of 4.8 per cent on the amount invested. The amount appropriated by the several States and municipalities to these institutions was $3,565,529, and the General Government appropriated $2,414,984.

Benefactions. The amount of gifts and bequests received during the year was $8,390,938. Of this amount, $4,141,601, or almost one-half, was given to the institutions located in the North Atlantic Division.

The summarized and detailed statistics concerning the institutions for higher education are given in the following pages.