Kids Education School Gallery: college

Tuesday, 28 June 2011

college

college

Though you’d never know it by watching Jersey Shore, higher educational institutions originated in Italy. I know, right? It’s true, though. The Salerno School of Medicine was established in the 8^th Century and the University of Bologna followed at the end of the 11^th Century. Fast forward approximately 600 years, and Harvard University was founded as the first college in America. And now, here we are in the 21^st Century with … well, a LOT more. And with the continued additions of colleges and universities and institutions of higher education comes the evolution of their focus, student populations, and more.

For instance, in the 13^th Century, students could study pretty much one of three areas: Rhetoric, Logitech and Latin. Now, the options are pretty much limitless. From puppetry to enigmatology (Yep, Indiana University offers a degree in the creation and solution of puzzles), if you want a degree in something, you can probably find it. There are, of course, the popular choices, too. Top 10 degrees include biology, business, communications, computer science, criminal justice, education, marketing, nursing, psychology and political science. To this day, no one’s sure what political scientists actually do. There’s a major dedicated to the study of it. Just kidding on that last part.

Another thing that’s changed drastically is the gender breakdown of each year’s crop of college enrollments. As you might imagine, for a long time women weren’t encouraged to get education. Since the fall of 1970, though, that trend has fallen by the wayside. From just over 3,500 enrollees then to a fall 2007 total of almost 10,500, female enrollment has increased at a much higher rate than male (5,044 to 7,816 in the same date range). Girl power! And 10,000 more people enrolled in college in 2007 than in 1970.

But what about degree types? In the 13^th Century, to go along with their Rhetoric, Logitech and Latin coursework, students were awarded one of three “grades” upon completion – Scholar, Bachelor or Master. A hundred years later, “Doctor” replaced “Master” even though those silly French were still using it in the 16^th Century. In the 1600s, the Bachelor of Science was just an introductory public test and the Mastership of Arts was a 2-year program. Then, in the late 19^th Century, Germany got all revolutionary and scrapped the Bachelor of Arts, instead using Mastership of Arts but calling it “Doctor of Philosophy.” Along that same time, America was devising their own system of degree levels, ending up with the still-intact Bachelor, Master, Doctorate hierarchy. Hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Long story short, education has changed a LOT over the past 1,300 years, but has remained something we all need to have fulfilling careers we can succeed in. And with so many options, why not check something out? Maybe you already have a bunch of degrees. What’s one more? As my friend’s grandma used to say, “Once you learn something new today, you can go back to sleep.” So, I’d say it’s naptime.

college