Montreat College (NC) Facing Cash Flow Problems

The Asheville Citizen-Times reports on February 24, 2014 about cash flow problems at Montreat College in North Carolina.

Ry Rivard follows on February 26, 2014 with an article for Inside Higher Ed exploring the end of conversations between Montreat and Point University (GA) about a possible merger.

Montreat Normal School was founded in 1916 offering preparatory and teacher training programs for women.  The name was changed to Montreat College in 1934 and a four year program was added in 1945.  The institution became coed in 1959 with a two year program and adopted the name of Montreat-Anderson College.  The baccalaureate program returned in 1986 and the name of Montreat College was adopted in 1995.

Ottumwa Heights College (IA)

Ottumwa Heights College is featured in a post at Lost Womyn's Space.

Ottumwa Heights was a private college operated by the Sisters of Humility of Mary. Its roots can be traced back to the 1860s, when the Visitation Academy was established in Ottumwa.  It was renamed as St. Joseph Academy in 1925 and then to St. Joseph Junior College in 1930.  The Ottumwa Heights College name was adopted five years later.  On July 1, 1979 the boards of Indian Hills Community College and Ottumwa Heights College merged operations.

You can also view a dramatic video of a fire in 1957 that destroyed the Ottumwa Heights motherhouse and the college.

Chatham University Considers Changes (PA)

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has several good articles by Bill Schackner and Anya Sostek on the possibility that Chatham University's undergraduate program may become coed.  An initial article covers a recent decision by trustees.  

Chatham was founded as Pennsylvania Female College in 1869.  In 1890 the institution changed its name to Pennsylvania College for Women.  Then in 1955 the name became Chatham College and in 2007, Chatham University.

A second article provides interesting context for the conversations by highlighting other women's colleges that faced similar issues.

 And, a third article is focused on the comments of alumnae and others familiar with Chatham. 

Patee Female College & St. Joseph's Female College (MO)

The Lost Womyn's Space blog has a new post featuring Patee Female College [1865-1868] and St. Joseph's Female College [1875-1881].

1895 U.S. Postsecondary Enrollment

There were a wide variety of educational institutions operating in the late 19th century to meet societal needs and student interests.   Institutions from five sectors served 263,450 students in 1895.

Sector:	Students	%
Business and Commercial Schools	75,604	29%
Normal Schools	44,538	17%
Colleges and Universities	73,159	28%
Schools of Technology	10,001	4%
Professional Schools	60,148	23%

The business and commercial school sector was the largest with 29% of enrolled students.  Within the sector, one-half were enrolled in commercial courses.

Programs at Business and Commercial Schools:	Students	%
Commercial Course	37,929	50%
Amanuensis Course	23,142	31%
English Course	13,324	18%
Telegraphy Course	1,209	2%

Twenty-three percent or 60,148 of the students were enrolled in professional programs.

Professional Schools:	Students	%
Medicine	24,377	41%
Law	10,449	17%
Theology	8,173	14%
Denistry	6,460	11%
Pharmacy	3,426	6%
Nursing	7,263	12%

The Report of the Commissioner of Education for the year 1896-97, Vol. II.  Washington:  Government Printing Office, 1898 serves as the source for data.  The photo of the Telegraphy Department of Albany Business College is from the Early Office Museum.

Missouri Colleges and Universities in 1895

There were 38 institutions of higher education in Missouri in 1895.  Most were small with the median enrollment of 145 students.  Fifty-three percent (53%) of these students were actually enrolled in collegiate, professional, or graduate programs.

	Preparatory	Collegiate	Graduate	Professional
% of Total	47%	44%	1%	8%
# Students	3,478	3,244	64	607

The MO institutions are mapped below or you can follow a direct link offers a full screen view in a new window.  The pins are color coded to reflect whether institutions are still operating or have closed.  You can check or uncheck the boxes corresponding to the respective category.  You can also select a specific pin and a pop-up will display with the name of the institution, the location, and the founding date.

Institutions That Have Closed
Institution	Location	DateEstablished	Percent Collegiate Graduate or Professional Enrollment
Central Christian College	Albany MO	1892	69%
Northwest Missouri College	Albany MO	1892	69%
Pike College	Bowling Green MO	1882	70%
Missouri Wesleyan University	Cameron MO	1883	16%
St. Vincent's College	Cape Girardeau MO	1843	45%
Grand River Christian Union College	Edinburg MO	1858	42%
Synodical Female College	Fulton MO	1872	77%
Pritchett College	Glasgow MO	1866	28%
Presbyterian College	Independence MO	1871	34%
Baptist Female College	Lexington MO	1855	79%
Central Female College	Lexington MO	1869	68%
Elizabeth Aull Female Seminary	Lexington MO	1859	67%
Liberty College for Young Ladies	Liberty MO	1890	79%
Hardin College	Mexico MO	1873	81%
Morrisville College	Morrisville MO	1872	27%
Scarritt Collegiate Institute	Neosho MO	1888	30%
Christian Brothers College [CBC High School still operating]	St. Louis MO	1851	34%
Tarkio College	Tarkio MO	1883	49%
Avalon College	Trenton MO	1868	44%
Central Wesleyan College	Warrenton MO	1864	41%

Institutions Still Operating
Institution	Location	DateEstablished	Percent Collegiate Graduate or Professional Enrollment
Southwest Baptist College [now Southwest Baptist University]	Bolivar MO 65613	1878	45%
Christian University [now Culver Stockton College]	Canton MO 63435	1855	100%
Christian College [now Columbia College]	Columbia MO	1851	62%
Stephens College	Columbia MO	1856	81%
University of Missouri	Columbia MO	1842	100%
Central College [now Central Methodist University]	Fayette MO	1857	48%
Howard Payne College [now Central Methodist University]	Fayette MO	1844	51%
Westminster College	Fulton MO	1853	70%
Lincoln Institute [now Lincoln University]	Jefferson City MO	1866	2%
LaGrange College [moved to Hannibal, MO, now Hannibal LaGrange University	LaGrange MO	1858	73%
William Jewell College	Liberty MO	1849	51%
Missouri Valley College	Marshall MO	1889	40%
Cottey Female College [now Cottey College]	Nevada MO	1884	46%
Park College [now Park University]	Parkville MO	1875	33%
Drury College [now Drury University]	Springfield MO	1873	29%
Lidenwood Female College [now Lindenwood University]	St. Charles MO	1830	77%
St. Louis University	St. Louis MO	1829	20%
Washington University	St. Louis MO	1859	36%

The Report of the Commissioner of Education for the year 1896-97, Vol. II.  Washington:  Government Printing Office, 1898 serves as the source for data.

Mississippi College and Clinton, MS

Walter Howell, Clinton (MS) Historian, is providing three presentations this month on the history of Clinton and Mississippi College.  Live streaming is available at 7 p.m. on February 6th, 13th,  and 20th of 2014.

Archived videos of the Clinton (MS) History Presentation Series will also be available after each program.  The initial presentation titled "Clinton Founders" focused on the three officials from the federal land office in Jackson who were instrumental in starting Hampstead Academy in 1826 and founding the Town of Clinton in 1829.

"Clinton During Flush Times and Panic" on February 13th will cover the decade of the 1830's when Mississippi College was chartered and flourished while the Town of Clinton became a trade center for Hinds County. Town and Gown's prosperity ended with the panic of 1837.

The February 20th program, "Clinton: Politics and Dueling" will tell the story of the personal quarrel between President Andrew Jackson and Senator George Poindexter that led to the famous Caldwell-Gwinn duel in Clinton in 1836.

Howell's presentations are based on the research and writing for the forthcoming history of Clinton and Mississippi College: Town and Gown.

Top 20 Colleges by Enrollment in 1878

The various Reports of the U.S. Commissioner of Education that are available through the Internet Archive or Google Books offer a wealth of interesting data.  Have you ever wondered about the size of colleges and universities in the decades following the Civil War??

I created this map where you can select a specific pin and a pop-up will display with the name of the institution, the location, and the founding date....link to a full screen map in a new window.  A table with the data is included below this map.



The report includes a list of 361 colleges and universities.  Students enrolled in college preparatory academies or in graduate and professional programs are not included.  The median collegiate enrollment for the 322 institutions with figures provided, is 66 students and the mean value is 92 students.

Most of the institutions on the Top 20 are familiar names.  Trinity University has since moved to San Antonio and Rutherford College later merged with another institution to serve as a predecessor for Brevard College.

Institution	City	State	Rank	Enrollment
Harvard University	Cambridge	MA	1	884
Yale University	New Haven	CT	2	663
Baltimore City College	Baltimore	MD	3	526
College of the City of New York	New York	NY	4	496
University of Missouri	Columbia	MO	5	461
University of Cincinnati	Cincinnati	OH	6	455
College of New Jersey	Princeton	NJ	7	449
University of Virginia	Charlottesville	VA	8	365
Amherst College	Amherst	MA	9	335
Oberlin College	Oberlin	OH	10	323
Dartmouth College	Hanover	NJ	11	315
University of Wisconsin	Madison	WI	12	281
Mt. Union College	Alliance	OH	13	278
University of Notre Dame du Lac	Notre Dame	IN	14	275
Trinity University	Tehuacana	TX	15	270
Rutherford College	Rutherford	NC	16	250
Ohio Wesleyan University	Delaware	OH	17	249
Columbia University	New York	NY	18	246
Brown University	Providence	RI	19	243
University of Illinois	Urbana	IL	20	242

Virginia Intermont College (VA)

Nick Anderson reports January 31, 2014 for the Washington Post that Virginia Intermont College plans to merge with Webber International University of Babson Park, FL.

Virginia Intermont College was founded in 1884 as Southwest Virginia Institute in Glade Spring, Virginia.  In 1891, the institution moved to Bristol,TN.  Initially founded for the education of women, Virginia Intermont became co-educational in 1972.