A Very Brief History of Higher Education in the US

The earliest colleges in North America started as religious institutions, for example Harvard and Kings College, which later became Columbia University.

Later came universities based on the German model, with a hierarchy of professors and departments.  Examples are Johns Hopkins, Rockefeller University, and the University of Chicago.  Their focus was research.  John D. Rockefeller Sr. was a major patron of this model.

The students of those universities were mainly upcoming scientists and scholars.  They were also involved in the certification of doctors.  One of Rockefeller's ideas was to eliminate contagious diseases.

There was no talk of shared governance in those days.  There was no thought of anyone other than the professors (and of course the patrons) having positions of authority.

The large and numerous higher education institutions we have today emerged after WWII, and there was a new demand for educated individuals to fill middle class jobs.

A professor professes, which means they put forward an original or unpopular idea.  Most college teachers are not professors.  The student's role is to listen to the idea and examine it objectively.  Thus the students learn the process of examining ideas objectively.  

A professor who requires students to agree with them should be exposed.  I had one professor, for Existentialist Philosophies who I disagreed with.  Her test only covered seemingly random facts about the philosopher, Kierkegaad and his writings.  I spoke to her about this, and she said I could try writing an essay about why I disagreed with Kierkegaad.  I found myself unable to do that.  I learned from that experience, that I when I disagree, I need to have my thoughts organized.

Extremists say that colleges should abandon this intellectual function.  The good news for colleges is that while there are many schools that do only job training, employers still prefer to hire college graduates.

And now for some terminology:

College:  A collection of professors.

Doctor of Philosophy: One who has contributed a doctrine to the theory of an academic field.

Instructor: One who instructs/

Lecturer: One who lectures.

Professors: One who professes; puts forward new or unpopular ideas.

Student: One who studies.

Tenure:  Ownership.  The word comes from the same Latin root as the Spanish verb "tener".

University: A collection of colleges.

Special thanks to my professors and other teachers.  I hesitate to name them as they might not agree with me.