Part 5

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 Lycée 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."

The State universities will gain greater influence if they will rigidly exclude from their teaching force the brilliant skeptic who "becomes the center of a coterie without his gifts, dazzled by his boldness, infected by his skepticism;" but rather employ Christian professors who will inspire a "noble ambition that unites in its scope the life that now is and that which is to come, that comprehends earth-born sciences and the philosophy of salvation, the tongues of men and the language of the city of the great King."

Likewise the State and denominational colleges and universities have the largest freedom and independence. Their boards of management are comparatively free from interference on the part of party politicians and demagogues, or of those influenced by denominational prejudices. Party leaders in the church or state may be equally liable to an undue bias or a partisan spirit and influence which is beneath the dignity of those who claim to represent the people in a Christian Republic.

The American college is a chartered institution, under the control of a Board of Trustees or Regents. These boards are composed of about twenty or thirty representative men in church or state. They are, in some cases, a self-perpetuating corporation, while others are chosen for a term of years by the affiliating conferences or synods. Occasionally, the Alumni of the college may elect some of the Trustees. The State universities are under a Board of Regents appointed by the Governor, with the consent of the legislative body, or are chosen by popular election. These boards meet once or twice a year. Their principal duties are to make laws for the government of the college; appoint the officers and professors, and fix their salaries and tenure of office, and hold all property entrusted to the college, and retain general supervision and control of all expenditures. These boards are the ultimate source of authority in all matters pertaining to the welfare of the college.

The Chicago University and some others have a University Council, composed of the chief administrative officials of the university. They direct all administrative matters. The University Senate is composed of the heads of the departments of instruction. It is their duty to control all educational affairs. The Harvard Corporation consists of the President, five Fellows, and the Treasurer, with the right to fill their own vacancies. Their acts are "alterable" by the Board of Overseers, to whom they are responsible. This board consists of thirty-two members, elected by the Alumni.

The Faculty is a body of instructors. The universities may have as many faculties as there are departments of instruction. In the American college proper there is but one faculty, composed of all the instructors. It varies in number and efficiency according to the number of students and financial resources of the college. The proportionate number of professors to the students follows the custom of the best English and German universities, which usually is one professor for every twenty or thirty students. The Dean is an administrative officer of a department in a university, and is concerned with the internal discipline and executive affairs.

The Presidents of the American colleges are usually clergymen. They are chosen with reference to their pre-eminent ability as scholars and administrators. The President has oversight of the plan of instruction, the maintenance of discipline, and is the representative head of the college before the public. Considerable importance is attached to the office of the President, since the success of the college in a great measure depends on his individual talent and character.

The American college professors, as a class, may be characterized as having a living scholarship and a genuine speculative spirit, combined with tact and firmness in teaching. They are enthusiastically devoted to their work. There is a growing disposition to break away from mechanical and plodding routine, and adopt an intellectual, energizing style of questions in class work, that elicit enthusiasm and aid the student. Lecturing is but little used. The teaching is more of an active, earnest conversation on a special subject between the teacher and the pupil. The instructor seeks to lead, but not to carry, the student through the study. There is also less inclination to dogmatize, and the student's mind is trained to habits of original and philosophical investigation.