Changes

Throughout the first half of the 19th century, colleges continued to open and focus on ministry education, with now more Catholic as well as Protestant colleges opened. Not all taught in English, with some of the German migrants opening their own ministries and teaching in German. Although the focus was on the ministry, a liberal arts education began to develop that encompassed more than just theology. This included Greek, Latin, ethics, logic, and ancient history. Some universities taught courses such as 'moral science' as part of their ministerial education focus. In addition, the beginnings of the sciences began to be taught, mainly mathematics. Prior to 1850, laboratories did not exist and almost all education was based on lecture style. Most colleges enrolled individuals younger than 18. The colleges also established preparatory schools and enrollments enrollment was often limited to dozens for even some of the larger schools. Tuition was also very low, even by early 19th century standards, and literary societies, rather than fraternities or sororities, existing as the main diversion from academic study. By 1870, only one type of PhD degree was possible. After that time, Clark University and Johns Hopkins began to influence other colleges, including the Ivy League schools, to create graduate programs and offer wider PhD training and advanced degrees. This was often modeled after European universities that began to broaden their curriculum in the late 19th century. Although in 1848, the Seneca Falls convention called for more female participation in education, it took decades for this to develop.<ref>For more on how colleges developed in the early 19th century, see: Geiger, R. L. (Ed.). (2000).<i> The American college in the nineteenth century (1st ed)</i>. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press. </ref>

Developments that occurred during this period the 19th century include some universities being becoming more selective with admissions. This was often driven by social class rather than having admissions driven by achievement, where education was not seen as enabling social mobility but rather perpetuating the religious and class structure within the US. In particular, the Ivy League began to have a reputation in the 19th century as being very exclusive, catering to the elite of societyand preparing them for political leadership. This helped to form what would ultimately become the elite Northeastern classes that dominated Civil War and post-Civil War society in the United States. Increasingly, other countries, such as Germany, began to reorient universities to focus on new developments in the sciences, including chemistry and physics. In the United States, there were increased needs for engineering, particularly industrial engineering, and agricultural sciencesagriculture. Pennsylvania State University in 1855 would develop into an early university and college that provided agricultural science training in 1855. In the 1860s, land grant universities began to appear in states, particularly the newer states in the Midwest. The 1862 Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act not only helped to establish this but it also allowed women to enroll into co-education lang grant institutions, helping to enact some of the Seneca Falls actions called for. Iowa State, Purdue, Michigan State, and Michigan State were among the first that focused on agriculture and engineering that were intended to benefit the states as they developed economically. As land grant universities and colleges began to open, a new goal emerged, which was to educate (men mostly at this point) people so that they could develop better values and knowledgeto benefit the states. Effectively, this developed the idea that colleges and universities could also become vehicles for social mobility for families that had previously been poorly educated. Minorities continued to be poorly served, but by 1890 land grant universities began to be extended to Black Colleges through legislation by Congress. The Second Morrill Act in 1890 helped to create seperate land grant colleges for segregated states.<ref>For more on how colleges and universities expanded areas covered and how land grant universities evolved, see: Geiger, R. L., & Sorber, N. M. (Eds.). (2013). <i>The land-grant colleges and the reshaping of American higher education</i>. New Brunswick (U.S.A.) ; London (U.K.): Transaction Publishers. </ref>