Running head: HISTORICAL TIMELINE

Historical Timeline
Cheryl DePaolo
Georgia Southern University

HISTORICAL TIMELINE

I have started my historical timeline with a little bit of European higher education history.
I feel that some of the things that I have highlighted played and may still play a part in American
Higher Education. For example the formation of teachers guilds is still prevalent in American
Higher Education. There are numerous professional organizations found in the higher education
community. There are organizations and conferences for development personnel, professors,
medical professionals, and more. Graduation rituals can still be found on todays college
campuses, as well as dormitories and student living. The concepts of lehrfreiheit and lernfreiheit
are imbedded into higher education. Thanks to Descartes, Galileo, and Newton, we apply critical
thought and analysis to scientific inquiry. Debating societies, literary clubs, and fraternities,
though started in 1600s Scotland, are also important to American Higher Education. Though
these events did not occur in America, I feel that they are pertinent and important to American
Higher Education.
Thirteenth Century Italy: Formation of teachers guilds, which were voluntary associations
of scholars who shared a common ethnic or regional identity and a common vernacular
language (Lucas, 2006, 1994, p. 42).
Thirteenth Century Italy: Graduation rituals, which were extravagant in nature.
Twelfth and Thirteenth Century England: Evolution of dormitories and student living.
Thirteenth Century: Lehrfreiheit (freedom to teach) and Lernfreiheit (freedom to learn)
1600s: Critical Inquiry and the rise of science. According to Lucas (2006), The concept of
science itself underwent a transformation and constriction of meaning, the term now referring
not to any branch of learning generally but, instead, to exact and certain knowledge apprehended
by the mind (Descartes), measured mathematically (Newton), and demonstrated by
experimentation (Galileo). (p. 93)

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1600s Scotland: Universities featured intellectual debating societies, students literary clubs,
political associations, and alumni fraternities
1776: Founding of Phi Beta Kappa at College of William and Mary. This was important to show
that students were interested in forming into groups with similar interests and developing a
fraternity of brotherhood.
1790: University of North Carolina developed their school motto, Lux libertas (light and
liberty). This was important to higher education because it showed school spirit.
1802: Founding of United States Military Academy at West Point. This was important because
it was the first indication of federal involvement in education, as opposed to state run colleges.
1837: Mount Holyoke founded. This was the most thorough and academically advanced
womans college. This was one of the first opportunities for women to attend college.
1862: The Morrill Act of 1862. This groundbreaking piece of legislation signaled the entrance of
the federal government into public policy by offering land-grant colleges. The federal
government provided incentives for each state to sell distant Western lands, with the state being
obliged to use the proceeds to fund advanced instructional programs. The state was required to
fund programs in agriculture, mechanics, mining, and military instruction.
1876: Founding of Johns Hopkins University. The university required its medical school
applicants to have completed a bachelors degree. The result was the establishment of a
hierarchy of instruction and certification. This university is still an icon of research and
scholarship.
1850-1890: Increased philanthropy. The large gifts that were bestowed upon colleges allowed
for facilities, such as a scientific school, or educational funds, such as the Peabody Educational
Fund, which offered educational assistance to the south. Increased philanthropy equals increased

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funding to the college or to help fund endowments. Philanthropy has always been crucial to
higher education.
1890: The Morrill Act of 1890. This second act required that race not be criteria for admission.
The outcome was the establishment of black land-grant colleges.
1890s: Alumni associations and clubs begin to form. Alumni associations are important to
philanthropy, as well as school spirit.
1900: Establishment of Association of American Universities. The presidents of fourteen
institutions formed this association to strengthen and standardize doctoral programs. This
organization is still in existence today and provides a forum for the development and
implementation of national policies that help promote strong programs in research and
scholarship.
1900: Founding of College Entrance Exam Board. This voluntary, private association was
committed to creating reliable, standardized college admission tests.
1890-1910: Colleges Adopt Institutional Colors and Mascots. This was a huge swell of college
pride. It helped build brotherhood and solidarity that is still evident on college campuses today.
1905: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. This foundations goal was to
rationalize colleges and universities into effective systems.
July 1917: Creation of Student Army Training Corps (SATC). President Woodrow Wilson
created this on-campus training program to allow students to train for the front line, while
earning their undergraduate education.
1919: Founding of University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). The founding of UCLA
was the first multi-campus statewide university system.

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1920s: Formation of junior colleges. The formation of junior colleges allowed for statewide
access to a college education. These colleges offered a liberal arts curriculum, which could then
be transferred to a four-year campus.
1944: GI Bill. This important piece of legislation offered returning military the option of
pursuing a college education, with a living allowance, so that they could be re-trained in an
alternative career, or to pursue a degree in a new career. This bill caused a need for increased
construction of classroom buildings, and laboratories, as well as brought non-traditional students
into the classroom.
1954: Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. This groundbreaking case
challenged the separate but equal doctrine, and was the push to desegregate public schools.
1960s: Student protests. During the 1960s, organized student power surfaces to protect
students rights, as well as to protest civil rights, war efforts, womens rights, gay rights, and
environmental issues.
1972: Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. This legislation protects people from
discrimination based on sex. Basically, any programs that receive funding from the federal
government cannot discriminate against women with regards to admissions, programs, physical
education, counseling, housing, or employment.
1972: Basic Educational Opportunities Grant (BEOG)/Pell Grant. This grant was authorized as
part of the Education Amendments of 1972. It provided grants to assist eligible students to
obtain a postsecondary education.
1978: Bakke vs. the Regents of the University of California. This case came before the
Supreme Court to decide if race could be a deciding factor in college admission. It was decided
that race could not be taken into account insofar as deciding on college admission.

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1980s: Co-ed dormitories were formed, along with theme based housing, such as theater arts.
1990s: For profit universities. These universities have attracted working adults, and often offer
distance education. Alternative education options are going to become more and more crucial as
we become more global. Technology is always improving, and higher education has to improve
with it.
There are so many important aspects to American Higher Education. It is difficult to
decipher which occurrence is more important than another. I have put together the pieces that I
found to be most crucial to higher education in America.

HISTORICAL TIMELINE

References
Lucas, C. J. (2006, 1994). American Higher Education: A History. Palgrave Macmillan.
Thelin, J. R. (2004, 2011). A History of American Higher Education. Baltimore: Johns
Hopkins University Press.