The U.S. belief in education

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33739, 11 January 1975, Page 11

The U.S. belief in education

Belief in the value of education has always been part of the American creed. With the beginning of the nation in the 16205, the early founders soon worked to establish schools and colleges. Today the United States educational establishment is a huge enterprise that has grown as the nation has grown, and in the last 30 years its expansion has been marked by emphasis on higher education and the training of manpower for professional and business life. The oldest university, Harvard, was founded (1636) for the training of Protestant clergymen, and the majority of early college graduates entered the ministry. Education and religion were closely intertwined during the pre-1776 era. With the westward movement, the early settlers established both churches and colleges. By 1776, there were nine colleges on the Atlantic coast. They were fashioned on the Oxford and Cambridge pattern. The curriculum concentrated on the classics (Greek, Latin, Hebrew), logic, rhetoric, history, and mathematics. There was little or no training in applied science, social studies, or modem languages. Church influence was strong, and the presidents (vice-chancellors) of these centres were clergymen, as were most of the professors. By 1776, other institutions had been founded, including Yale (1701), Princeton (1746), Columbia (1754), and Pennsylvania (1755). Significant role Harvard played a significant role in the building of America. It provided many early presidents and statesmen, and its list of alumni is somewhat more impressive than that of any other, American academy, though this statement would probably be contested by graduates of Yale, Columbia, and Princeton.

With the huge college and university enrolments of today, when a ’’small college” may have between 500 and 5000 students, it is hard to realise that the institutions of the 1700 s were very small indeed and only for the select few. In 1775, Harvard graduated 40 students, Yale 35, and Pennsylvania only 5. And yet 17 of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence -were American college graduates.

Growth has been a main characteristic of the decades since then.

From the start, education has not been a central government responsibility but a matter for state governments and people to initiate and support. The majority of “state universities” had their origins in the 19th century, and several now wellknown private colleges began in this era, usually under religious auspices, mainly Protestant, though the largest single group of American colleges and universities today (more than 300) are affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church.

A landmark development came in 1862 when an Act of Congress provided funds from the sale of public lands for the endowment of at least one college in each state. This made possible public education — its benefits were now made available to the children of tax-paying agricultural and industrial workers. Reforms were made in the curriculum, more training being given in agricultural science, industrial arts, and technology. Following the Civil War, many colleges for black students were established. Since the 1954 Supreme

Court integration ruling, qualified students enter college regardless of race, but there are today about 110 predominantly black colleges, and about sixty per cent of all black students attend these schools.

One far-reaching change has been the elective system, whereby the student has far more freedom to choose his course of study. But many educators feel that it has cheapened education, allowing students to choose the easiest and least demanding courses. Another factor enhancing this trend has been the huge growth in numbers of students since 1945, with the resultant battle between quantity and quality. Is it possible to provide quality education for so many? The issue is not yet resolved.

More than 63m Americans are working full-time in education, as students, teachers, or administrators. There are approximately 2600 college institutions with a total enrolment of 8.5 m.

The great majority of students are in four-year centres, though a growing number (almost 1.8 m) are in two-year institutions known as junior (or community) colleges. There are now almost 1000 of these colleges that offer training in secretarial and industrial arts as well as more academic subjects. Three-quarters of all students are in the state institutions, a major reason being that the private colleges and universities are much more expensive. The large state universities are tax-supported, and their admission standards are usually lower than those of the private colleges.

Many a state university is ordered by law to admit any student who graduates in the top fifty per cent or seventy five per cent of his secondary school class. This leads to a common problem, that of the student who cannot adapt to college life, either academically or psychologically, and then drops out at the end of his first or second term.

About forty per cent of secondary school students proceed to higher education, and in the words of Dr Clark Kerr formerly president of the University of California (65,000 students) ghe university has become a “multiversity” or degree factory.

It is not uncommon in an introductory first-year course for a professor to

speak through a microprone to a class of 1000 or more. In smaller colleges the situation is very different. One recent trend has been a rising interest in adult education, involving an estimated 32m adults in a wide range of courses. New York University in 1973 enrolled 20,000 students in non-degree classes.

Recent estimates are that one in every eight persons is enrolled in adult education programmes. New adaptation* Although American education can point to many successes since 1900, this very success has brought with it a need to make several new adaptations — namely, adaptations to growth, to shifting academic emphasis, involvement in the life of the community, and response to new government relationships. One issue is the extent to which the university should become the "research arm” of the federal government. Will government aid bring government control? Since 1971 reduced federal research contracts have combined with inflation to cause a crisis for many an institution, and some smaller colleges may have to close their doors.

And while student protests have subsided since 1970, there is a new teacher protest, in which academic staff demand more voice in university affairs. Faculty dissent is a new problem for administrators; and at about 300 universities, professors have formed trade unions to protect their interests.

This article is by JOHN E. OWEN, a professor in the department of sociology, Arizona State University.