Higher Education in the United States

Higher Education in the United States as a system has undergone many changes which are a reflection of society. Higher education has not always been an easy or equal playing field for many Americans. Since the education system is the foundation of the notion of civic participation, it is strange to think of early higher education as being selective as it was. From its humble beginnings, a college education was only permitted to men, mainly white males. However, in America in the late 1800s, higher education’s notion of being an all-boys club slowly began to change.

Over time, a new wave in higher education marked the changes in the curriculum and enrollment. Minorities and different social classes were gracing the college campuses. Despite being discouraged from pursuing higher education, women were also being educated at all women’s colleges and coeducation colleges as well. Whether coeducation or all women’s college, the idea of women being educated was not always a supported in the early history of America. Women’s education lived under a banner of controversy from the start. Over time women’s colleges developed and became important to women. By the middle of the twentieth century, women’s higher education was making significant progress. According to scholar Leslie Miller-Bernal, at this point in time, “higher education moved into the mainstream of American life… Between just 1900 and 1930, for example, the number of students in institutions of higher education in the United States grew by about 300 percent."^[1] Women were included in this new view of higher education. No longer was there a debate on whether women’s presence in higher education was acceptable; women’s intellectual skills and abilities made them just as fit for advanced study as their male counterparts.^[2]

While everyone’s educational experiences differ, one role of higher education is to help students enter into the job market prepared and ready for their particular field of interest. When looking back on the academy during the thirties, it is interesting to try to understand the value of higher education during an economic meltdown.  In fact, one might try to analyze why many young people would spent at least four years seeking a degree when they would likely be met with little more opportunity as those in the unemployment line.  There are many reasons why college enrollment increased during the Depression. While some went to college to postpone responsibilities right after high school, others sought liberal education to give a glimpse of the inner workings of society and its leaders. Whatever their reasoning, the onset of the Great Depression marked a time of increased enrollments.  The thirties was a decade that will be notably remembered for the traumatic effect of the economic downfall.  And while many Americans struggled, higher education was being pursued all over the United States, including Wilson College.  

This exhibit will include not only a general overview of the Great Depression but will look at the higher education system. While the scope of this project’s focus is higher education in the 1930s, on a local point, Wilson College is examined to see how the college functioned in the response of the Great Depression.

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     ^{1. Leslie Miller-Bernal, Separate by Degree: Women’s Students’ Experiences in Single-Sex and Coeducational Colleges. (New York: P. Lang. 2009),  97.}  

     ^{2.Leslie Miller-Bernal, Separate by Degree. 97.}