There are a large number of scholarships and fellowships, both graduate and undergraduate, and a particularly well developed sys tem whereby undergraduates of limited means are enabled to earn part or all of their expenses. During the year 1935-36 over 700 undergraduates were thus assisted.
The university is governed by a board of trustees, not less than 23 nor more than 4o in number, of which the Governor of the State of New Jersey (and in his absence the chairman of the board) is presiding officer. Eight of the trustees are elected, two each year, by the alumni of the university ; the others are elected by the board.
History.—The university owes its origin to a movement set on foot by the Synod of Philadelphia in 1739 to establish in the Middle Colonies a college to rank with Harvard and Yale in New England and William and Mary in Virginia. Owing to dissension in the Church, no progress was made until 1746, when the plan was again broached by the Synod of New York, formed by the seces sion of the presbytery of New York and the presbytery of New Brunswick, radical (New School) presbyteries of the Synod of Philadelphia. Most of the leaders of the presbytery of New Bruns wick had been educated at Log college, a school with restricted curriculum about 20 m. from Philadelphia, founded in 1726 but recently closed. The opportunity was taken by the Synod of New York to found a larger institution of higher learning, broader in scope and training, and to transfer to the new project the Log college interests. On Oct. 2 2, 1746, John Hamilton, acting gov ernor of New Jersey, granted a charter for erecting a college in New Jersey, which was opened in May, at Elizabeth, N.J. A second charter was granted by Gov. Jonathan Belcher who on his arrival in the province in 1747 had at once taken the college under his patronage. The college was removed to Newark where the first graduation exercises were held in 1748; but the situation was unsuitable, and in 1752 the trustees voted to remove the col lege to Princeton. While additional funds were being collected in Great Britain, work was begun in Princeton in 1754 on the first college building, Nassau hall.
John Witherspoon, president during the Revolutionary period, influenced the college strongly by his personality and political prominence, and graduates of his training became leaders in pub lic affairs. The history of the college during the first half of the 19th century was uneventful. Because of its large Southern clientele, it suffered in the Civil War a blow from which it recov ered only under the energetic administration of President James McCosh (1868-88). The undergraduate enrolment was nearly
trebled, gifts amounting to more than $2,000,000 were contributed, only half of which sum was for endowment, 14 new buildings were erected, and important changes in the curriculum were put into effect. Fellowships were established in 1869, the elective system was introduced in 1870, the John C. Green school of science was erected in 1873, the graduate department was systematized in 1877 and the faculty grew from 17 to 40 and the number of volumes in the library from 25,000 to 65,000.
Under President Francis L. Patton (1888-1902) a school of electrical engineering was established, the "honor system" was instituted and the plan of electing alumni trustees adopted, 17 buildings were erected, the student body was doubled and the faculty increased to ioo, while the endowment reached two and a half million dollars. In 1902 Professor Woodrow Wilson, of the Class of 1879, was elected president. In his administration the undergraduate curriculum was again revised, the departmental system was organized, an extensive building programme was com pleted. To obtain the necessary funds a committee of so alumni was formed, later changed into a Graduate Council. Through their agency in the eight years of President Wilson's administra tion the University received over four and one-half million dollars, the faculty was greatly strengthened and the library increased to 271,000 volumes. A plan for grouping the University into small self-contained units was prematurely proposed by the presi dent in 1907 and was withdrawn by the trustees. The Princeton plan of a residential building for graduate students had been suc cessfully tested on a small scale and a bequest in 1908, although inadequate for the full project which included professorships and fellowships, gave the plan its first semblance of permanent realiza tion. Additional funds being conditionally offered in 1909, contro versy developed as to the site for the building and finally as to the plan itself, the president no longer favouring it. A further be quest of about two millions for the project brought matters to a head and the president recommended acceptance of the legacy. In September 1910, having received the democratic nomination for Governor of New Jersey, he resigned the presidency.