The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1912-09-21
SOUTH AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES
Interesting Report Of Or. Brandon
Many Universities With Thousands
of Students-Greater Proficiency
Required Than In the Universities
of the United States Which They
Antedate.

DR.. Edgar e. Brandon recently re-
turned to Washington, after a trip
OF nearly year through South
America undertaken under the direc-
ton of the Pan-American Union to
get first hand information concerning
higher education in the Latin Ameri-
can republics. He intended primarily
to look into the educational facilities
of all the republics, but later found
he would have time to cover only
Panama, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argen-
Costa RIGA.
ut is strange but nevertheless
true he states in the report of his
experiences, that nothing has ever
been published in this country regard
ing higher education in South
America.
tT first visited Ecuador and Guate-
mala where they have universities
but only in small way. In Argen-
tina they have no more than seven
thousand students in their four uni
versities At Buenos Aires alone they
have five thousand students, which is
almost as many as on the rolls of
any university in the United States.
Chile has about two thousand students
in the State University, with several
hundred more in the Catholic
University. Peru has nearly one thou
sand in the university at Lima, includ-
ing the three provincial universities.
Even little country like Uruguay
has seven thousand students.
"In Brazil there are about eight
thousand persons studying law, medi-
cine, pharmacy, dentistry and en-
cheering, but a peculiar fact in con-
nection with this country is that it is
the only one in the whole of South
America that does not maintain
university. The schools were never
organized in university form. They
have schools of law, schools of medi-
cine, schools of engineering and
many other kinds of schools, but
strange to say they have no univer
sity that comprises all of these diff
ferent schools in one organization.
Another striking fact about Latin
America is the great amount of money
the various countries are putting into
higher education of late years. Many
of them are putting up fine buildings,
increasing the salaries of the teach
ing staff, and doing many other
things to help along the educational
| propaganda. Uruguay in the last
three or four years has spent more
than two million dollars in buildings
for schools. At La Plata, Argentina,
the university plant, building grounds
and laboratory cost something like
ten million dollars.
Zone popularity about South Amer
lean institutions is there are no pro-
| fessors who are strictly professors as
we understand the term in the United
States. The majority of instructors
are men who practice their profess
sions at the same time as they teach.
These men teach probably only three
or four hours a week, but they come
right in from the actual practice of
their profession to do this. They are
all men of considerable learning and
high regulations in their communi-
ties. The best physicians, the best
lawyers, and even the high state Off
Gals all willingly accept professor
ships i'm any of the colleges. Almost
all South American university profess
sors will usually be found to be men
of the highest social standing and
considerable wealth. This lends a GER
tain dignity to the institutions which
is sometimes lacking in the United
States in spite of our better teaching
methods. There is no question but
that in proportion to the time given
to teaching, professors are better paid
in Latin America than in this country.
GAS far as I know there are only
three institutions in Latin America
of higher education that are not
strictly dependent upon and founded
by the State. One is the Catholic
University at Santiago, Chile, the
second is Mackenzie College at Sac
Paulo, Brazil, and the other at Bogota,
Columbia. There are many private
schools in secondary education and
private societies not religious.
"The length of time necessary to
secure diploma in any Of the univer-
sites throughout South America is
greater than it is in this country. For
4 instance, in law it takes about five
years and sometimes six years to get
degree. In medicine six and seven
years, and i'm pharmacy three and four
years. The law school is not merely
a school of law. 1t is a school of
jurisprudence and comprises courses
in juridical sciences like international
law, economics, political science, etc.
The medical course includes much Of
the practice our physicians get as in
ternes i'm hospitals after graduation"
DIR. Brandon concludes his report by
the following reference to the found
/ ir0 of South American universities