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were used as pnrt of the funds of a State university ; in either case they 

 were set aside directly for instruction in sucli branches of learning as are 

 related to agriculture and the mechanic arts. This movement, which was at 

 work in the organization of the new land-grant college, was also taking hold 

 of the older colleges, and the courses of study offered to the youth who matricu- 

 lated in one of these institutions in the last quarter of the nineteenth century 

 greatly astonished the father's mind who was a student in the middle of the 

 century, by reason of the fullness and richness from which his son could elect 

 such studies as afforded the best preparation for his after life. The sciences 

 and their application to the various professions of life had found a place in 

 the curricula, and it was soon found imi)ossible for anyone to get more than 

 a smattering of elementary principles if he should attempt to take them all. 



There was great diversity of conception of the functions of a college, and 

 especially did the land-grant colleges differ in their organization and prac- 

 tice. However, they honestly set about their work and had demonstrated their 

 usefulness in such an emphatic way as to deserve further aid in the new 

 Morrill bill of 1890. Many of them established courses shorter than the four 

 years' course which had been handed down to them from the older colleges, 

 and they sought degrees that were of lower significance than the old degrees. 

 Often they required less preparation of those entering into the more practical 

 lines of work than was asked of candidates for the severer courses, which were 

 still kept to give proper dignity to the institution. Their aim was to turn out 

 men who could actually do something ;■ who could apply their knowledge to 

 some useful purpose, even at the sacrifice of that mental culture which comes 

 from the mastering of the principles of a science. 



There was a complete shaking up of the older courses of study and a recast- 

 ing of the forms of education offered to the youth seeking training in the col- 

 lege. The time-honored classical course was rendered more useful by giving 

 enlarged attention to the English language, by the introduction of rational 

 methods of study to history and science, and by the addition of one or more 

 modern languages. 



A scientific course, with or without Latin, was organized parallel with the 

 older classical course; but at first the requirements for entrance upon the newer 

 course were often less than were demanded from a candidate seeking admis- 

 sion to the older training. P.y reason of the poorer preparation for their 

 duties, students in the latter course performed their work in an inferior man- 

 ner, and, of course, received an inferior training. Even after entering college 

 upon a lower plane than the classical students, often the course was comi)leted 

 in three years, thus making the degree given to be regarded as much inferior 

 to the old-time bachelor of arts. 



The degree of bachelor of science, or sometimes the degree of bachelor of 

 philosoi)hy. was introduced for such students as had completed the so-called 

 "scientific" courses of study. This degree had very unfortunate treatment in 

 its early history, but it soon recovered its standing when the colleges asked of 

 the candidates for graduation preparation as severe and as extended as was 

 demanded of the older course of study, and now it is held in the highest esteem. 

 Candidates for degrees in the various scientific courses have as difficult work 

 as the classical students, and while they do not pursue the same studies they 

 receive the same degree of mental training from the severe exactness of their 

 work and the broad liberality of their course. Even if something is sacrificed 

 in not requiring so much specific attainment as is required of the classical 

 students for admission, it can be more than made up by asking of the appli- 

 cant greater maturity of mind and fixity of purpose. 



If college courses are to be .judged by the careers of the men who have taken 

 them, we feel justly proud of the training that we have given in the courses 

 of science, agriculture, and engineering. These men have measured up with 

 the classical men in every duty and have stood shoulder to shoulder with their 

 fellows in this preparation for life. They have not fallen behind the men who 

 have studied the classics in culture, for that indefinable something that comes 

 after years of association with great minds comes not less surely to the student 

 of science than to the devotee of the classical literature of the world. 



The new education, however, did not stop with the addition of one degi-ee 

 to denote the accomplishment of undergraduate training. It makes the head 

 swim to contemplate the number and significance of the degrees given bv 

 American colleges. In the Standard Dictionary an attempt to give the degrees 

 offered by the " leading universities and other educational institutions " occu- 



