Private and State Colleges and Universities

Harvard College was established in 1636, with the principal purpose of providing a literate ministry for colonial churches. It was a small institution, enrolling only 20 students in 1642 and 60 in 1660. It soon be­came more than a theological training school and es­tablished itself as a liberal arts college. The next insti­tution of higher learning established in the American colonies was the College of William and Mary, which opened in 1693 at Williamsburg, Virginia. Other col­leges were founded in the next century, but all of them remained small schools for long periods. Students en­tered at the age of 14 and remained until they were 18, and the curriculum, while rigidly academic and classic was by modern standards rather secondary in nature.

Private colle­ges and universi­ties were estab­lished in various states. The first state university was the Univer­sity of Virginia, founded in 1819. Some state uni­versities have lar­ge endowment fu­nds which pro­vide a substantial portion of their support. Other sources of income are stu­dent fees, gifts and endowments.

In general, higher education in the USA may be di­vided into two broad fields: liberal arts and professional. Each of these fields may be further subdivided into un­dergraduate and graduate levels. The liberal arts program, on the undergraduate level, may be a two-year junior college course, or a four-year course leading to a degree of Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science. The four-year course is usually subdivided into a lower division (which may be called the junior college), consisting of the two first years, and the upper division, which is the last two years. The first two years continue the general education and specialization begins in the third year.

1. Remember the words and word-combinations:

literate ministry — грамотные священнослужители

theological training school — школа богословия

endowment [in'daumə nt] funds — фонды пожертвований.

2. Skim through the text and say which of its paragraphs gives the information about:

a) state universities,

b) the first institutions of higher learning in the country,

c) the two broad fields of higher education.

3. Find answers to the following questions in the text:

1) When was Harvard College established?

2) What was its original purpose?

3) Was it a big or small institution?

4) How many students studied at it at first?

5) What was the next institution of higher learning established in the American colonies?

6) Which was the first state university?

7) Which sources does the income of a state univer­sity come from?

8) Does a state university charge student fees?

9) What are the two fields of higher education in the USA?

10) What are further subdivisions of these fields?

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