Meanwhile Yale College had preceded Harvard in the development of graduate work. In 1847 a 'department of philosophy and arts' was or ganized for 'scientific and graduate study.' 1"his department was expanded until in 1860-61 it was divided into (l ) the Sheffield Scientific School and (2) the special courses in philology, history, philosophy, etc., and the announcement was made that the degree of Doctor of Philosophy would be conferred, as was done for the first time at the close of that year. In 1872 the graduate work was organized into a separate department, as the first distinct graduate school. In the seine year Harvard announced that it would confer the advanced degree, but it was not until 1S90 that a separate graduate school was organized. Other institutions, such as Columbia, Michigan, Cornell, and Princeton, soon followed the example of the older institutions in providing for advanced de grees and in the ease of the Master's degree some even preceded the older institutions. In the case of Cornell University. opened in 1868, the graduate work and graduate degrees were planned from the beginning. The Johns Hopkins University, founded in 1876, has been the most influential of all factors in developing university work simi lar to that of the German universities. Here first was found an institution devoted chiefly to the training of advanced students: here first were found the opportunities for research along the line of all the social and natural sciences, liter ature, and philosophy; here first was the organi zation of work similar to that of German in stitutions and the same freedom and opportunity of wide choice given to the student. For many years the men trained at this university exerted the greatest influence toward the introduction of similar work in other institutions where the university work was developing out of the old collegiate work. A second great influence is that exerted by Harvard University during the in cumbency of President Eliot. Nowhere else has the close and beneficial relationship that may exist between the graduate and undergraduate work been so demonstrated. A similar influence was exerted upon State universities, which for the most part are only colleges with non-graduate professional schools added, and by the graduate instruction both in natural and the social sciences by Cornell University, ample provisions for which were made at its foundation in 1868. More re cently several other institutions have vied with these in the importance of their nniversity work, notably two, which now lead all the others in graduate attendance, namely. Columbia Uni versity and the University of Chicago. Columbia as reorganized in 1890 provided for graduate work, in a graduate faculty of philosophy, of po litical science, and (in 1893) of pure science. Since then the faculty of medicine and the faculty of law have become graduate faculties, and the faculty of education (see TEACHERS COLLEGE) provides for a large number of graduate students. In numbers pursuing graduate studies this uni versity now leads. The University of Chicago, founded in 1891, has laid the greater emphasis upon graduate work from the beginning, and has introduced a number of novel features, some imitations of features of English universities. some of German. and some original. Several of these, such as the continuous session, and the publication department, as an important phase of the university work, seem destined to come into general acceptance.
The degrees conferred by universities for ad vanced work are usually those of Master of Arts (A.M.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), though sometimes the Master of Science (M.S.) and the Doctor of Science (D.S.) are also given. The tendency now in both t-he gradnate and un dergraduate work of universities is toward giv ing a single degree (A.B., A.M., and Ph.D.) upon
the completion of any one of a number of allied courses. The requirements for the .Master's de gree show considerable variation among the dif ferent institutions. The degree usually indicates one year of resident graduate work beyond the bachelor's degree, though it is still frequently given honoris cause. The minimum for the Doc tor's degree is two years' work beyond the bac calaureate, including the preparation and usually the publication of a thesis. In most cases the doctorate requires three years of graduate work. In 1873 there were 43 doctorate degrees con ferred. 25 of which were upon examination. By the close of the century this number had in creased to from 300 to 350 each year. with less than five per cent. given honoris cause. The graduate students in twenty-five institutions number four thousand. See DEGREE.
Complete freedom of choice is naturally given to the student in the selection of his studies, as is now the usual, or at least the frequent custom in undergraduate studies. ( See ELECTIVE COURSES AND STUDIES.) Consequently the A.B. de gree as well as the Ph.D. does not indicate the mastery of any particular subject or subjects. The German custom of requiring the student to select a major and one or two minor subjects prevails in most universities, though Harvard and Yale simply require that the kind and amount of the work be satisfactory to the ap propriate committee. The present tendency in other institutions is away from this division into majors and minors. The amount of time or number of courses included in a major or minor varies with the university. A major for a Doc tor's degree ordinarily represents two courses of two or three or four hours weekly for two or three years, as the ease may he. It is often more in amount. The minor is ordinarily one-half of the above requirement. The greatest variety of choice is offered the student for his selection of majors and minors.
The teaching staff is composed of professors, adjunct or associate professors, assistant profes sors, instructors, tutors, and assistants. The American professor is always a teacher, and the amount of his time that must be devoted to actual lecturing and teaching is usually pre scribed for him by the college regulations; it is ordinarily from eight to twelve hours per week. He has not the privilege accorded to the Ger man professor, of 'reading' or not, but must every year go through a certain number of courses of instruction, besides being expected, in many of the colleges, to assume a certain amount of responsibility for the morals and discipline of the undergraduates. This is a very serious ob stacle in the way of his ability to carry on in dependent investigation and research, and makes the American professoriate a comparatively sterile body, though an improvement in this re spect has been very noticeable in the past few years. The university instructor is now ex pected to be not only a director of investigation and an investigator himself, but he is also expect ed to publish the results of his investigations. The same kind of work is also coming in in creased amount from the colleges, though there the instructor must spend the greater part of his time (from 15 to 20 hours per week) in class instruction. Ilarvard, Yale, Chicago. Cornell, Columbia, the Johns Hopkins, Clark, and other universities have now largely adopted the Ger man conception of the professorial function, and allow the individual professor much greater lib erty in the discharge of his duties than was for merly the case. Ilarvard, Columbia, Yale, Chi cago, and Cornell have likewise adopted the laudable plan of allowing each professor one year's leave of absence in seven, though with some diminution of salary.