New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-10-05
WOMEN AND COLLEGE
Interesting Statistics-The Various Tvnss 30
Students.

Some interesting facts and figures aro t. :. -
article on "Women's Colleges ana -, VI ~ OF
ives contributed by Jane A. Stewart IN Tho
Booklover's Magazine" AT The st.; :" me
War" says the writer ''tbera w. -. % 'He ~iFi'
tional institution of college grade vvbioh - 80
students. This was Oberln College which has 30,
open to women since 1888. Now there arc moro
than four hundred and fifty colleges and ,niverst
ties in the United States which arc et -.
women opportunities for higher culture and rrofos-
sional training. In the universities ana o5r,
where generation ago scarcely any vvo,,s, ,,-,ra
enrolled. more than third of the total number
of students are women. In the eleven higher edu-
cational institutions for women only which fuIeI
the college standard in entrance reouraroen+s
training Of faculty and curriculum there ara ro,,
enrolled 5.l52 students and teaching force with
university attachments numbering SOP. The total
number OF women college students is estimated at
forty thousand.
The increase Of women in professional schools
has been particularly marked in the last 6ftea,
years. According to the carefully complied 6e,,r
OF President Thomas of Bryn Mawr the ratr in
numbers of students in medicine from 1890 to ISIS
81 per cent Of men and "a per cent of women.
in dentistry, $50 per cent Of men and os ner cont
of women; in pharmacy. . per cent of men and Qo
per cent Of women; in technology and agriculture
19 per cent of men and 1874 per cent of women.
There are three distinct types of institutions for
the higher education of women in the United States
First, there is the independent college for women
only which has developed out of the nrivata scbo1
and seminary, where grandmothers were
taught the meagre branches of knowledge which
past generations deemed fitting for the sex which
was destined TO purely domestic sphere This
type Of college predomlnates in the East and is
based on me conservative traditions Of the sep
aIateIleSS OF women ; sphere OF work. Neverthe-
less, the great institutions of this type have swung
such colleges Bryn Mawr Vassar Smith and
Wellesley stand for the broadcast and most ad-
vanCed ideas of curriculum and method.
Second. there is the compromise type, which is
attached to a mems college as an annex The
audT Rad eli
also in the East. Both are attached to great
universities. and naturally both are of the highest
stitutions Of higher learning for women. is most
closely affiliated with Columbia University
Third, we have the co-educationaI type, which
IS best represented by the State universities of the
education Of women the coeduca oh a is the most
interesting at the present moment Its advoca tes
other two are simply stages in educational evolu-
ton. ASIDE from the educational theory which
! fitted by association in lecture room and Iabora-
of arguments. economy. President Jordan of Lee
land stanford University sums up the educaton al
theory by claiming that women do more work in
more natural way. with better perspective and
influence and society of men: and that other
things being equal through association with wom-
earnest and improve in manners and morals.
An attempt is sometimes made to distinguish
between the ideals Of culture OF the different col
leges One hears discussion Of the Smith type, the
dffefences after all are veTE sight and are grow
ing less the colleges coming into closer con-
tact. Nevertheless there is something quite dis
tinctive about the Oberlin ideal. A certain moral
enthusiasm and emphasis the social service
which the college and woman owes the world
have marked this college from its earliest days.
Dean Luce is excellent representative OF this
splendid spirit.
The privately endowed institutions exclusively
for women are well equipped materially, and the
endowments of the principal colleges growing
rapidly. Three of them-Bryn Mawr. Smith and
Nassar-are included among the ffty-two colleges
of the United States having vested funds OF more
than 500 go. and twC.-Nassar and Bryn Mawr-are
listed among the twenty-nine colleges possessing
productive funds of 100000 and over. The total
value Of the property and endowment as given for
last year is: Nassar 81 ell l50 Bryn Mawr. $1,000,
600; Wellesley SL5000e0 and Mount Holyeke. 81 400,
600 If numbers gauge of worth, Smith
would be ranked the first Undergraduate col
lege OF the United States. for It has enrolment
of o4S students Wellesley is next. with $780, Vas
sar. SEQ; Mount Holyoke, So. and Bryn Mawr, 426
The writer concludes with sketches Of the careers
of the presidents OF the various colleges whose
portraits supplement the text.