The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1906-02-22
UNIVERSITY GROWTH
COLLEGES PRosPERED GREATLY
DURING LAST DECADE.
Eastern Institutions, However, Were
outstripped by Those of the
West in Rate of In
crease.

crease.
The opening of another college year
makes pertinent some observattDDs ca
the marvellous growth of Arleriean
universities. In no decade previous
to the period from 1895 to 1905, says
the Boston Transcript, have the larger
educational institutions of this coun-
try leaped forward with such vigor.
gained SO heavily IN attendance and
efficiency, or demonstrated SO clearly
by the shifting popularity of studio
the striking changes that are taking
place I'm the intellectual and industrial
worlds OF America. There can be no
doubt that the universities in reflect
ing these tendencies stand for all the
collegiate institutions i'm the land. A
study of the statistics Of 30 univer-
stiles. including the historic institu-
tions OF the east, the great state uni
yersities of the west and a number
or typical or dominant universities of
the south, develops some noteworthy
facts. The figures of attendance at
these institutions in the last completed
college years. l90lig05. and in 1884,
1895. are G2.5SS against 37.92S.
II is to be noted at the outset that
these universities are growing fast
er than The population From 1890 to
1900 the number of inhabitants in the
United States increased less than %
per cent. The attendance at these 30
institutions increased 65 per cent. or
alost three times as much Plainly,
this Indicates that the sense cf the
desirability of a college training is
spreading rapidly and permeating
classes of the population who never
realized 1t before
There is nothing east or west in any
wise comparable with the tremendous
growth OF the University of Illinois,
more than quintupling in ten years.
And Its increase is the more striking
when one considers the grown of
Northwestern University and the Uni
versity of Chicago, worthy rivals in
the same state. In the eastern uni
versities, Columbia. with 10S per cent.
gain. Cornell. with 81 per cent. and
New York, with l34 per cent. have
grown with westernlike rapidity. but
the % per cent increase of Harvard.
32 per cent of Yale, lS per cent. OF
Pennsylvania. and "a per cent. of
Princeton. pull down the average OF
the whole section. or the first ten
universities in the country. four are
eastern and six are western
Yale and Pennsylvania have both
fallen In position. the former from
fifth to ninth place, and the latter
from fourth to twelfth place. Harvard,
though still In the lead. is barely 500
ahead of the second. Columbia. where
as in 1896, with a smaller attendance.
the Cambridge institution was 700
ahead of Michigan, which then stood
second on the list. II Columbia con-
tinues to grow as fast AS In the last
decade. following its removal to
ampler quarters on the heights OF New
York city. 1t will pass Harvard In
two years.
In the growth Of attendance on the
various university courses some re.
markable and significant diife ences
are shown. The trend OF American
youth is definitely toward practical
studies. Put In the simplest form
the increase In number of students In
the several courses from 1895 to
1905 was: Arts and sciences. per
cent; engineering, 162 per cent; medi-
cine. 35 per cent. and law. "A per
cent
Last comes the sex problem. so to
speak, in the higher education. Wom-
en- are crowding to the universities In
larger and even larger numbers. In
20 universities from which compare.
tive figures OF the attendance OF men
and women were obtainable there were
1890 women students In 1S54-95 and
1915 In l904-05. The per cent. of gain
in the decade. l06. Is 40 per cent. high
er than that Of the entire body OF stu
dents.
These. then. are the tangible and i'm
portant features OF American univer-
sity growth at this period uD At.
tendance is growing faster than the
population: (2) western institutions
are growing faster than eastern; l3)
the old arts course Is falling behind
relatively, while the scientific and en-
gineering courses are forging to the
front; az fewer students are attending
law and medical schools In proportion
to the total number OF students; (5)
the number of women students is
growing faster than OF men.