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Iowa State University CampusHigher Education
The term “higher education”
means education beyond high school. It can be at a community college, university,
seminary, private college or a virtual school. Until the past 100 years, few
Americans went to high school, let alone college. Those who wanted to be lawyers,
ministers, doctors or teachers went to college. Wealthy families could afford
to send their children to colleges, but most families could not. Higher education
was not seen as necessary.
Church Supported Colleges
Unlike one-room schools and high
schools, most early colleges were sponsored by churches, not the government.
One reason churches supported colleges was to prepare ministers. Another was
to build character and morality in young people. The founders of those early
colleges believed that teaching history, literature, science and the arts
would give students sound values and a greater respect for religion. Learning
different languages, including Greek and Latin, was important. Students were
encouraged to read the works of ancient authors in their original languages.
Together, these fields of studies are called the liberal arts. Studying the
liberal arts is not the training for a specific profession. Instead, it provides
the foundation for learning to think, communicate and evaluate. These skills
are useful in all professions as well as in life itself.
The Methodist Church was an early leader in founding colleges in Iowa. Methodists
took over a private school in Mount Pleasant in 1849 and turned it into a
Methodist college. It became Iowa Wesleyan University. Early supporters hoped
that it could offer many fields of professional training, including law, medicine,
the ministry and pharmacy. College leaders, however, decided that they could
not provide teachers for so many different fields. In 1912 the school became
Iowa Wesleyan College. It focused on teaching the liberal arts instead of
professional training.
Before 1900 the Methodist Church would sponsor four more colleges. They were
Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Upper Iowa University in Fayette, Simpson
College in Indianola and Morningside College in Sioux City.
The Catholic Church also established several Iowa colleges. Unlike most other
colleges, Catholic schools were for either men or women, but not both. St.
Raphael’s Seminary in Dubuque opened in 1839. Its goal was to prepare
young men to be priests and to teach high school courses to young men. It
soon changed its name to Loras College, in honor of the first Catholic bishop
in Iowa. In 1843 Dubuque Catholics opened a college for young women that eventually
became Clarke College. In Davenport young Catholic men could attend St. Ambrose
College and women attended Marycrest. Briar Cliff College opened for women students
in Sioux City. Classes for men were often taught by priests; nuns served as
teachers in the female colleges. In the latter half of the 20th century, most
schools became coeducational, admitting both men and women.
Presbyterians opened colleges, including Coe in Cedar Rapids and Buena Vista
in Storm Lake. Parsons College in Fairfield, started as a Presbyterian school,
became independent and later was transitioned into Maharishi University. The
school promotes the practice of meditation as a way to achieve personal and
world peace. Grinnell College was founded by a group of Congregational ministers
who came from New England. They came to Iowa to help bring Christianity to
the frontier. The Reorganized Latter Day Saints (now Community of Christ)
founded Graceland College in 1895 in Lamoni. In 2000 it changed its name to
Graceland University when it added advanced degree programs in education,
nursing and religion. Other churches opened their own schools.
State Universities
In addition to private colleges,
Iowa also has three strong public universities. The University of Iowa at
Iowa City held its first classes in 1855. Its first building was the Old Capitol.
Before Iowa’s capital moved to Des Moines, the governor’s office,
the Supreme Court and the legislature did their work in Iowa City. When they
moved to Des Moines, the university took over the old capitol building. In
addition to the liberal arts, the University of Iowa provides training for
lawyers, doctors, nurses, dentists, engineers and many other professions.
Iowa State University was a different kind of school. It did not stress foreign
languages, literature or history. It trained students in practical skills
like farming, engineering and home economics. To promote practical learning,
the United States government gave each state land for such colleges. These
schools were called “land-grant” schools. Its first classes began
in 1869 when the school was called the Iowa Agricultural College. Many male
students worked on the school’s farms as part of their study.
With a growing population, Iowa needed teachers for its many schools. More
people had come to understand that good teachers needed to take classes in
how to become teachers. Classes that teach teachers were called “normal”
classes. In the 1870s a new school opened in Cedar Falls called the Iowa State
Normal School that specialized in preparing teachers. It later changed its
name to Iowa State Teachers College and then became the University of Northern
Iowa.
The G.I. Bill
Until the middle of the 20th century, far fewer students went beyond high school than today. After World War II, however, returning Soldiers began taking college work. A big factor was “the G.I. Bill.” World War II soldiers were called “G.I.s” because much of their gear came in crates stamped “G.I.”, an abbreviation for “Government Issued.” The government gave money to Soldiers returning from the war to go to college. They had to build more residence halls and classrooms and hire more teachers. College was no longer only for the wealthy.
Community Colleges
In 1966 a new kind of school opened
in Iowa. These were the community colleges. As factories and industries grew
in Iowa, there was a need for more trained workers. The community colleges
taught courses in how to do the work these new jobs required. They taught
courses to train people to become auto mechanics and electricians. Students
could learn how to run a hotel or become a gourmet chef or become a dental
assistant. They could learn business skills or how to grow flowers and other
plants. The state was divided up into 16 districts, each with its own community
college. Some colleges taught courses in several communities within the district.
Students are not the only ones who benefit from colleges and universities.
College sports events draw large crowds, and many Iowans are loyal fans of
their favorite teams. Many people enjoy the student plays, concerts and art
exhibits. Colleges and universities also bring important people to the state
to give lectures. College professors do research and publish the results,
offering new insights on current issues. University hospitals are an important
part of the state’s health system.
More and more, getting a good job would require a college degree. In 1960
Iowa’s three public universities—the University of Iowa, Iowa
State, and the University of Northern Iowa—had a total of 24,000 students.
Ten years later, enrollment had climbed to 52,000. By 2000, there were 60,000
students in these three schools. An additional 38,000 students were studying
in Iowa’s private schools in that year. Community colleges enrolled
an additional 66,000 students. That brought the total of Iowa college students
to 156,000. From small beginnings for a few wealthy people, higher education
has grown into a vital part of the life of the state.
