Independent colleges for women- Since independent colleges for women of the same grade as those for men are peculiar to the United States, I shall treat them somewhat more fully. The independent colleges here taken into account are the eleven colleges included in division A of the U. S. education reports.3 The independent

or in the suburbs of a city, in communities which have grown up about the college, and their students live largely in college dormitories; the conditions, therefore, are exceedingly unlike those prevailing in non-residential colleges and also unlike those prevailing in the world at large. These exceptional conditions are a source of pleasure and, in many respects, of advantage to the student. Undoubtedly there is in coeducational colleges less unrestraint; young men undoubtedly care much for the impression that they make on young women of the same age, and there is more decorum and perhaps more diligence in classrooms where women are present. The objection to coeducation on the part of women students is, to some extent, the same; separate colleges for women in like manner are, as a rule, academic communities living according to regulations and customs all their own; women also feel themselves more unrestrained when they are studying in women's colleges. Then, too, coeducation in the east is still regarded as in some measure an experiment, to the success of which the conduct of each individual woman may, or may not, contribute, and the knowledge of this tends to increase the self-consciousness of student life.

In the case of the colleges in groups I and II these statistics have been obtained through the kindness of the presidents of the colleges concerned; they are for the year 1900, except the numbers of instructors and students which are obtained from the catalogues for the year 1898-99; in enumerating the instructors, presidents, teachers of gymnastics, elocution, music and art have been omitted. Instructors away on leave of absence are not counted among instructors for the current year.

? Women's colleges were first classified in division A and division B in 1887. In these reports there appeared sporadically in division A Ingham university, at Leroy, New York, and Rutgers female college in New York city. Neither of these had any adequate endowment and neither ever obtained more than 35 students. Ingham university closed in 1893, Rutgers female college in 1895.

3 The women's colleges, so called, included in division B of these reports, are in reality church and private enterprise schools, as a rule of the most superficial character, without endowment, or fixed curriculum, or any standard whatsoever of scholarship in teachers or pupils. What money there is to spend is for the most part used to provide teachers of music, drawing and other accomplishments, and the school instruction proper is shamefully inadequate. Few if any of these schools are able to teach the subjects required for entrance to a college properly so called; the really good girls' schools are, as a rule, excluded from this list by their honesty in not assuming the name of college. The U. S. education report for 1886-87 gives 152 of these colleges in division B, the report for 1897-98, 135. When it is said that separate colleges for women are decreasing, the statement is based on this list of colleges in division B, which are not really colleges at all; and when it is said that women students are not increasing so rapidly in separate colleges for women as in coeducational colleges, it is the students in these mis

colleges for women fall readily into three groups: I. The so-called "four great colleges for women," Vassar, Smith, Wellesley, Bryn Mawr. It will be seen by referring to the classification on page 12 that these four colleges are included among the fifty-eight leading colleges of the United States; they are all included in the twenty-two colleges admitted to the Association of collegiate alumnæ; two of them, Bryn Mawr and Wellesley, are included in the twenty-three colleges belonging to the Federation of graduate clubs; they are all included in the list of fifty-two leading colleges of the United States given in the handbook of Minerva; they are all, except Bryn Mawr, included in the list given by the U. S. education report for 1897-981 of forty-six colleges in the United States having three hundred students and upward; three of them, Bryn Mawr, Smith and Vassar, are included among the fifty-two colleges of the United States possessing invested funds of $500,000 and upward, and two of them, Vassar and Bryn Mawr, are included among the twenty-nine colleges of the United States possessing funds of $1,000,000 and upward; three of them, Smith, Wellesley and Vassar, rank among the twenty-three largest undergraduate colleges in the United States; one of them, Smith, ranks as the tenth undergraduate college in the United States.

called colleges who are referred to; for precisely the reverse is true of students in genuine colleges for women. It is happily true that since better college education has been obtainable, women have been refusing to attend the institutions included in class B. Between 1890 and 1898 women have increased only 4.9 per cent in the college departments of such institutions, whereas, in these same eight years, they have increased 138.4 per cent in women's colleges in division A. The value of statistics of women college students is often vitiated by the fact that women studying in institutions included in division B are counted among college students. Many of the colleges for men only and of the coeducational colleges included in the lists of the commissioner of education are very low in grade, but few of them are so scandalously inefficient as the majority of the girls' schools included in division B. I have, therefore, in my statistics taken no account whatever of women studying in institutions classified in division B.

1 See pp. 1821, 1822, 1888, 1889. Bryn Mawr had not 300 undergraduate students in 1897-98, but the next year, 1898-99, passed the limit. I have excluded Western reserve as it is not coeducational in its undergraduate department, and, in 1899, had only 182 men in its men's college and 183 women in its women's college.

Vassar college, Poughkeepsie, New York1-Founder, Matthew Vassar; intention, "to found and equip an institution which should accomplish for young women what our colleges are accomplishing for young men;" opened, 1865; preparatory department dropped, 1888; presidents, three (men); 45 instructors (16 Ph. D.s.) -35 women, 2 without first degree; 10 men; 584 undergrad. s., II grad. s., 24 special s.; productive funds, $1,050,000; a main building with lecture rooms, library and accommodation for 345 students, and two other residence halls accommodating 189 students; a science building; a lecture building; a museum with art, music and laboratory rooms; an observatory; a gymnasium; a plant house; a president's house; five professors' houses; total cost of buildings, $1,044,365; vols. in library, 30,000; laboratory equipment, $33,382; acres, 200; music and art depts., but technical work in neither counted toward bachelor's degree; tuition fee, $100; lowest charge, tuition, board and residence, including washing, $400.

Founder,

Wellesley college, Wellesley, Massachusetts Henry F. Durant; intention, "to found a college for the glory of God by the education and culture of women," opened 1875; preparatory department dropped, 1880; requirement from students of one hour daily domestic or clerical work dropped, 1896; presidents, five (all women); 69 instructors (13 Ph. D.s.) — 64 women, 16, apart from laboratory assistants without first degree; 5 men; 611 undergrad. s., 25 grad. s., 21 special s.; productive

To any one familiar with the circumstances it does not admit of discussion that in Vassar we have the legitimate parent of all future colleges for women which were to be founded in such rapid succession in the next period. It is true that in 1855 the Presbyterian synod opened Elmira college in Elmira, New York, but it had practically no endowment and scarcely any college students. Even before 1855 two famous female seminaries were founded which did much to create a standard for the education of girls. In 1821 Mrs. Emma Willard opened at Troy a seminary for girls, known as the Troy female seminary, still existing under the name of the Emma Willard school. In 1837 Mary Lyon opened in the beautiful valley of the Connecticut Mt. Holyoke seminary, where girls were educated so cheaply that it was almost a free school. This institution has had a great influence in the higher education of women; it became in 1893 Mt. Holyoke college. These seminaries are often claimed as the first women's colleges, but their curriculum of study proves conclusively that they had no thought whatever of giving women a collegiate education, whereas, the deliberations of the board of trustees whom Mr. Vassar associated with himself show clearly that it was expressly realized that here for the first time was being created a woman's college as distinct from the seminary or academy. In 1861 the movement for the higher education of women had scarcely begun. It was not until eight years later that the first of the women's colleges at Cambridge, England, opened.

funds, $7,000;1 a main building with library lecture rooms and accommodation for 250 students; a chemical laboratory; an observatory; a chapel; an art building; a music building; 8 halls of residence, accommodating 348 students (new hall being built); total cost of buildings, $1,106,500; vols. in library, 49,970; laboratory equipment, $50,000; acres, 410; music and art depts., but technical work in neither counted toward bachelor's degree; tuition fee, $175 lowest charge, tuition, board and residence (beds made, rooms dusted by students), $400.

Smith college, Northampton, Massachusetts Founder, Sophia Smith; intention, to provide "means and facilities for education equal to those which are afforded in our colleges for young men ; opened, 1875; no preparatory department ever connected with the college; president, one (man); 49 instructors (13 Ph. D.s.)-27 women, 9 without first degree; 12 men; 1,070 undergrad. s., 4 grad. s.; since 1891 no special s. admitted; productive funds, $900,000; two lecture buildings; a lecture and gymnastic building; a science building; a chemical laboratory; an observatory; a gymnasium; a plant house; a music building; an art building; 13 halls of residence accommodating 520 students; a president's house; total cost of buildings $786,000; vols. in library, 8,000 (70,000 vols. in library in Northampton also used by the students); laboratory equipment, $22,500; acres, 40; music and art depts., technical work in both, amounting to between one-sixth and one-seventh of the hours required for a degree, may be counted toward bachelor's degree; tuition fee, $100; lowest charge, tuition, board and residence (beds made, rooms dusted by students), $400. Bryn Mawr college, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania - Founder, Joseph W. Taylor; intention, to provide "an institution of learning for the advanced education of women which should afford them all the advantages of a college education which are so freely offered to young men;" opened, 1885; no preparatory department ever connected with the college; presidents, two (one man, one woman); 38 instructors (29 Ph. D.s. 1 D. Sc.)-15 women, 23 men; 269 undergrad. s., 61 grad. s., 9 hearers; productive funds, $1,000,000; a lecture and library building; a science building; a gymnasium; an infirmary; five halls of residence and two cottages, accommodating 323 students; a president's house; 6 professors' houses; total

The founder of Wellesley expected to leave the college a large endowment, but his fortune was dissipated in unfortunate investments. The splendid grounds and many halls of residence of the college constitute a form of endowment, otherwise its lack of productive funds would have excluded it from class I.

cost, $718,810; vols. in library, 32,000; laboratory equipment, $47,998; acres, 50; no music department; no technical instruction in art; tuition fee, $125; lowest charge, tuition, board and residence, $400.

II. The women's colleges not included in the list of the fifty-eight most important colleges in the United States given on page 12, but of exceedingly good academic standing as compared with the greater number of the separate colleges for men and the coeducational colleges included in the four hundred and eighty enumerated by the commissioner of education.

Mt. Holyoke college, South Hadley, Massachusetts-Founder, Mary Lyon; seminary opened, 1837; chartered as seminary and college, 1888; seminary department dropped and true college organized, 1893; presidents, two (both women); 37 instructors (7 Ph. D.s.) all women; 5, apart from laboratory assistants, without first degree; 426 undergrad. s., 3 grad. s., 9 special s., 3 music s.; productive funds, $300,000; a lecture building; a science building; a museum and art gallery; a library; a gymnasium; a rink; an observatory; an infirmary; a plant house; 9 residence halls accommodating 478 students; total cost of buildings, $625,000; vols. in library, 17,700; laboratory equipment, $33,000; acres, 160; music and art depts., technical work in both, amount limited by faculty, may be counted towards bachelor's degree; tuition fee, $100; lowest charge, tuition, board and residence (beds made, rooms dusted, by students, and in addition one-half hour of domestic work required), $250.

Woman's college of Baltimore, city of Baltimore, Maryland Founded and controlled by Methodist Episcopal church; opened, 1888; preparatory department dropped, 1893; presidents, two (men); 21 instructors (10 Ph. D.s.)-II women, L.without first degree; 10 men, I without first degree; 259 undergrad. s.; o grad. s.; 15 special s.; productive funds, $334,994; a lecture building and three houses adapted for lecture purposes; a gymnasium; a biological laboratory; 3 residence halls holding 230; total cost of buildings, $505,703 vols. in library, 7,800; laboratory equipment, $47,000; acres (in city), 7; music and art depts., but technical work in neither counted towards bachelor's degree; tuition fee, $125; lowest charge, tuition, board and residence (beds made, rooms dusted by students), $375.