college history essay example

college history essay example

Exploring the Evolution of College Education: A Historical Perspective

1. Introduction

This essay tells the story of the growth and development of college education in the United States from its early colonial beginnings in the 17th century to three periods of major change in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. Six themes are central to the account. First, the historical development of higher education in the United States is a rich and nuanced story. Over time, American colleges and universities became more sophisticated, expansive, and inclusive. Secondly, American societal values, needs, problems, and aspirations have shaped the story of the various colleges and universities. Third, colleges and universities are organizations, each with its own distinct culture, characteristics, and identity. Fourth, individual U.S. states have held primary authority for the establishment of many colleges and universities, especially those that are publicly controlled and financed. Fifth, colleges and universities have responded to and been changed by national and global opportunities and challenges. Finally, colleges and universities have been dynamic institutions, perpetually in a process of change spurred by a desire to maintain their relevance and viability as educational organizations.

College education is the legacy of the United States. American college graduates have shaped the world of commerce and industry, government, education, the media, and the arts. Since the founding of the first English-speaking institutions of higher education in the New World in the 17th century, the United States has seen the founding of 3,000 degree-granting colleges and universities. An all-time record of 1,262 major educational institutions were in operation in the United States during 2015, and today millions of students are pursuing higher education in these institutions. Higher education has also become a truly global enterprise. In 2016, more than 1.5 million students from around the world were pursuing postsecondary education in hundreds of nations. Since the end of the 19th century, historians have attempted to tell the story of college education in the United States, and professional historians have become increasingly interested in learning more about universities and colleges elsewhere in the world.

2. The Origins of College Education

Other educational centers were of course established earlier in the New World, but these early institutions of learning were designed primarily to educate in a generalized Christian culture the sons of pioneer settlers. Their curriculum was then practically and explicitly the liberal arts, but on these other colleges were harder, heavier burdens. It is lovely to suggest that the pioneer idea of America was the college and that no other institution of higher learning was proposed, but said to be as necessary there. It was to the college that Dickens, Webster, and Emerson turned for rejuvenation in the America of their times, and it was college colleges that Ralph Adams Cram proposed as the necessary poles of a Christian republic in the twentieth century.

Emphasis on the formal education of young men destined for the clergy or other learned professions was already established in the culture of Western Europe when the eyes of the discoverers of the New World were dimmed. The first college established in the New World was Harvard. Its founders possessed convictions concerning the significant relations of education – and especially of the higher types of education – to emerging social and national needs. These convictions led them to seek financial support and to take other steps necessary to the development of a truly collegiate institution. They believed that the advanced quality of social life in the area to which they had moved depended immediately upon the advanced nature of the system of education they were able to develop. They were persuaded that pastors, leaders in the professions, leaders in lay society, and quality in the general culture would have their origin substantially within the processes of undergraduate collegiate education.

3. Key Milestones in the Development of College Education

2. The Role of Land Grants: Another transformative period in American higher education led to an objective change in the role of college education, as well as in its funding. Reflecting a commitment to furthering the economic interests of the nation, the passage of the Morrill Act of 1862 provided land grants for the establishment of institutions efforts to promote the liberal, mechanical, and agricultural arts for the liberal and practical education of industrial classes. With the addition of schools in the commissioned states and the later passage of the Second Morrill Act in 1890, there became an entire system of land grant institutions in every state of the union. While the flexibility of the language in the Morrill Act led to the interpretation that colleges could teach a wide range of subjects, over time these institutions became the places where students could receive education and training in practical fields such as agriculture, manufacturing, the liberal arts, and the mechanical arts.

1. Non-Sectarianization of Higher Education: Some American historians have attempted to classify periods in the history of American higher education by major themes or events. One of the foundational periods is known as the non-sectarianization period, which refers to the almost 50 years between the founding of the University of Vermont in 1791 and the founding of New York University (a non-sectarian institution) in 1831. During this time period, many of the colleges founded were non-sectarian, marking a significant change in mission as well as intellectual freedom, enabling religious minority voices to join the conversation about the role of higher education in America. Additionally, an emphasis on knowledge, both as a means for personal gain and as an element of public moral and religious duty, infused the curriculum. Exhortations to students told them that knowledge could open many doors for them personally and that society as a whole needed to benefit from their learning.

4. The Impact of Social and Political Changes on College Education

The high-low, high-mass debate has great relevance for current day policy and practice in higher education. As of this writing in 1999, the United States is once again debating the role of colleges in society. There is no agreement, and never has been, on the purposes of college education. Some see students as individuals primarily, who attend colleges in order to hone their academic and intellectual skills, independently or with help, but mostly on their own two feet. To critics, such implied notions limit the value of college substantially and are out of touch with most colleges, their missions, and the reality of most college students. To be worthwhile, a college education must directly benefit society, through the public responsibilities of the college, concerns and interests of its surrounding communities, or the citizenship role of students.

The unexpected impact of society and political changes on college education is a fascinating history lesson. America has long vacillated between giving colleges a free hand versus trying to move them in a more democratic direction. In short, between setting the higher-education agenda and attempting to change college education. Periodically, political pressures have led to shifts in how, and for what purposes, the nation’s colleges operate. Many of these debates are still relevant in the ongoing discussions about the value, function, mission, and purpose of college in America. Then as now, the democratic aims of colleges have often been in tension with the conventional functions of higher education.

5. Future Trends and Challenges in College Education

Explores and discusses present and future challenges and trends from a historical perspective, and presents some implications for this future society and the possible formulation of needed new theories or interpretations to teaching and learning.

The outlook for US higher education is fraught with challenges that inspire robust public and private discussion concerning the present state and prospective future direction of colleges and universities. Finding a satisfactory institutional equilibrium involves considering educational resources, organizational structures, administrative procedures, diversity, access, affordability, quality, accountability, and public responsibility and trust. This chapter presents an eclectic, selective, historical perspective on higher education, focusing on changes in professionalized disciplined based college education in the United States from a long-term (colonial to 2029) and short-term (from 1949 to 2029) vantage point. The discussion explains the context in which post-high school American college education has evolved, identifies key developments involving organizational, financial, human capital development, and educational responsibility issues, and assesses these trends within the wider context of labor market and social and economic needs. The changing nature of students is an important consideration. As the American educational community considers how to meet current and future world citizen educational needs, it both reexamines its past and future.

What are the challenges and future trends of higher education in the United States? The number of overall traditional-age students is expected to decline in the near future, and they will be more diverse. Online education will be prevalent. The role of graduate education in research universities will become increasingly important. Master’s degrees and doctoral degrees have significantly higher returns than bachelor’s degrees. Education for the workforce – more preparation for more profession. It seems more likely to change than other majors. With the education costs raising high, affordability is a key issue for a vast majority of higher education challenges.