Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: III. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE. The American college occupies a distinctive place among the educational systems of the world. It differs from the English and Scotch systems, and is diverse in form and purpose from the German university system. The American college signifies more than the English textit{Grammar school, the French textit{Lycee or the German textit{Gymnasium, and its course of study is broader and more comprehensive. The German textit{gymnasia hold the place of our high schools and academies, and their course of study carries the student through what is an equivalent to our Sophomore year in college. The colleges established in the early history of our country were shaped in somemeasure after the English model, but the American college of to-day " is the bright consummate flower of democracy." We may apply to it what Lowell says of Lincoln : " For him her old-world moulds aside she threw, And choosing sweet clay from the breast Of the unexhausted West, With stuff untainted shaped a hero new." The American colleges have held fast to the best of the ancient learning and utilized the best experiences and ideas of the English, German and French systems of education, and mapped out a distinctive system for themselves. They have sought to meet the needs of our age and the requirements of our generation, and we have as a product the modern American college, adapted to the wants of the people and the formation of a strong national character. The American people believe in individual rights and personal sovereignty. They have accordingly shaped their institutions in harmony with this view. In Germanythe man is educated largely for the State, but here we educate the man as a citizen and as an individual whose intrinsic dignity and valu...