The Third Period.—The third period of the women's college in the United States—from 1915 on—bids fair to be as distinctive as the preceding epochs. It is not likely that the number of senior colleges will increase in the same proportion, even if the numbers seeking admission should continue, since the cost of establishing a college and the conception of necessary equipment are so much greater. A possible exception is along the line of the junior college. A development of the last few years, the junior college idea has taken possession of some of the long-established institu tions for girls, such as Bradford academy, as well as being the type of an interesting new experiment—the Sarah Lawrence college for women in Bronxville, N.Y. It has been most widely developed in the co-educational sections of the country—the middle and far West, especially on the Pacific coast. The success of a junior college like Stephens college in Columbia, Mo., modelled on the women's college of the East, indicates a swing of the pendulum toward that form of education, at least for the first half of the college course.
Other indications are the establishment of Scripps college, opened in 1927 as the first one of the projected group of "Clare mont colleges" in Claremont, Calif., of which Pomona, a long established co-educational institution, is the "mother," and the division of Occidental college in Pasadena into two institutions, one for men and one for women. Until these recent developments, Mills college was the only separate college for women on the Pacific coast.
Popularity of Women's Colleges.—An outstanding char acteristic of the college for women has been its increasing popu larity. The fact that the leading colleges have had a large number of applicants from whom to choose has probably had an influence in several "trends." (I) The careful selection of candidates for admission has resulted in a group qualified for the most part to do college work and in turning into other fields those not fitted for the liberal arts course, a benefit to the individual as well as to college and community. (2) It has helped the college to hold
to its own field of work. Since the World War, there has been a marked strengthening of the liberal arts course, a course which the colleges for women have continued more consistently than any other institution of higher education. The curriculum has been enriched and made more flexible but with slight concession to the strictly vocational. (3) It has led to stress on the education of the individual, rather than education en masse. The introduc tion of the "honour" as well as the "pass" course ; the general ex amination in the major subject; an approach to the tutorial sys tem ; sectioning on the basis of ability—these and other develop ments, resulting in greater attention to the individual student, have been marked changes. (4) There has been an increase in the number of graduates going in for advanced work in various lines. (5) There has been an increase in the variety of profes sions and employments entered by graduates of the women's colleges. There have been a large number of graduates of women's colleges holding distinguished academic positions, distinguished posts in medicine, scientific research, journalism, social work and the arts, as well as in national and international organizations.