Ashford 7: - Week 6 - Final Project

Ashford 7: - Week 6 - Final Project

Introduction

College degrees come from many different sources in the United States. The academic title bestowed by the universities or colleges is sign of the completion of higher studies. The notion of a post-secondary education is wider than the two or four year degrees that are viewed as college. Higher education consists of all the skills, occupational and job related organizations as well as educational programs presented by colleges and universities. Entrance to colleges and universities has been a challenge in the past as well as currently. The standards have evolved from simple tests to standardized test such as the SAT 1 and 2. The paper will take a look at how higher education has evolved in the United States in the past century.

Discussion

Harvard University was the first institute of higher education formed in the America. The university was created in the year 1636 in Massachusetts. At the time of the American Revolution, there were nine licensed degree-awarding institutions developed in the colonies, which was a great achievement as compared to the dominant England which had only two institutes at that time. The colleges in the colony were based on the English model of education which in a lot of cases required being linked with religion. The Puritan, Presbyterian and Baptists sets had an influence on the particular schools, and some schools were under the patronage of the Church of England (Slossen, 1910).

The operations and supervision of these colleges guided their students to spiritual learning. During those years, college education was a privilege as it required sponsorship from England, the expenditure of running a university made the cost of education out of the reach of most of the people. Nonetheless, America was previously giving a range of choices to the particular demographic of rich, white men who were concerned about becoming members of the clergy.

The country experienced a weak economy when it entered the 21st century was the World War I happened which caused some of the colleges and universities to be financially handicapped. This was the time when there was a decrease in the number of higher education institutions. Nevertheless, the contemporary research university was developed during this time period, because of the contribution of notable people like Ralph Waldo Emerson, and his associate Charles W. He had a dominating liberal humanist approach. He pursued the steps of Jefferson by assisting in creating an optional system of education, as well as pioneering the nobility in value and quality of competition in getting a degree by virtue of higher education (Newfield, 2003).

A democratic system, on the other hand pioneered nobility on the basis of talent and merit. Pursuing that notion, he advocated for entry tests for colleges as the foundation for admissions. Such an idea made high school a requirement for higher education. Therefore having a college degree was something that was desired by employers. Progress after the war, and a fresh viewpoint on ...