I'TU
The Conservative
ENGINEERING EDUCATION IN THE
UNITED STATES.
Since to this society is entrusted more
than to any other agency the future of
engineering education in this country ,
and since we , ns a nation , have risen
out of the Monroe doctrine and our
isolation , and have taken our first step
to become one of the number of great
powers that assume to direct the course
of civilization and decide the destiny of
the rest of the world , and since this
nation , largely through the work of the
engineer , is making rapid progress to
ward the commercial conquest of the
world , the present seems an auspicious
occasion in which to study briefly the
progress of engineering education.
The century just closing has witnessed
a marvelous development in all matters
relating to education. Probably the
most remarkable feature of the educa
tional history of the century is the ex
tension of opportunities for an education
to the common people as a right. To day
there is nothing in this country so free
as education , and the United States is
far in the lead of foreign countries in
school attendance , about one fourth of
the school population of the world being
Americans.
At the beginning of the century there
were thirty colleges in the United States ,
with about 3,000 students , while today
there are 472 collegiate institutions with
155,000 students. But the mere increase
in numbers is not the most significant
feature. The colleges then were of a
lower grade than most academies today.
Another important element in the de
velopment of education in America has
been the magnificent contributions of
individuals and of governments to the
cause of education.
Technical Education.
Technical education , the application
of the sciences to the needs of man , is
a growth of this century entirely. Ap
parently the first technical school in the
world was the Ecole Polytechnique in
France , established in 1794 to train men
for the artillery and engineering corps
of the army. In 1835 in Troy , N. Y. ,
was organized the first institution in the
world for giving instruction in engineer
ing not military. Apparently at the
the time of the founding of this institu
tion the term civil engineering had not
been coined. From 1835 to the close of
the war only four engineering schools
were founded , of which oaly two were
really entitled to the name of engineer
ing. During this time the engineering
schools gave but little technical instruc
tion ; most of the so-called engineering
part of the course consisted of mathe
matics and elementary science.
In 1862 congress passed an act giving
to the several states public lands for the
benefit of "instruction in the arts and
sciences relating to agriculture and the
mechanical arts. " Shortly after the
close of the civil war many of our en
gineering schools were organized under
this act. This movement has resulted
in the establishment ol 04 technical col
leges at least one in each state and ter
ritory. Fifty of them give instruction
in one or more branches of engineering.
Immense strides have been taken in
both the methods and the scope of in
struction. At the close of the civil war
there were nominally only six institu
tions giving any grade of instruction in
engineering , and for 10 or 15 years there
after the engineering instruction offered
by the best institutions is hardly
deserving the name in comparison with
that offered by many institutions at the
present time. None of it consisted of
the principles of scientific engineering
nor of the relations of the sciences to
engineering problems. Textbooks were
few and poor. The equipment of the
schools was inadequate. Then the
student went to college to learn details
of practice and to fill his notebook with
formulas ; he was reluctant to give his
best efforts to the acquisition of funda
mental principles , and to the develop
ment of the ability to see straight and
reason correctly. Happily now all that
is changed , and the schools of America
are now affording unexcelled facilities
for the acquisition of the fundamentals
of an engineering education , and the
students are laboring heroically to
ground themselves in the principles of
scientific engineering.
Opposition of Practical Engineers.
Practitioners twenty-five years ago
doubted the value of a technical train
ing for young engineers , and distrusted
the engineering graduate , but now gen
eral managers and chief engineers prefer
technical graduates , since they have
been trained in scientific methods of
working and have a knowledge of the
fundamental principles underlying all
engineering practice , and look out upon
the world from the viewpoint of a man
of science. The national engineering
societies now give credit for training in
the engineering school toward the re
quirements for admission to membership.
Within recent years , largely , if not
mainly , through the influence of the
technical schools , engineering has ceased
to be traditional and has become scien
tific.
tific.The
The technical school met with no wel
come from the older colleges and univer
sities. In the beginning the devotee of
non-technical subjects was not willing
to admit the study of engineering as
being upon the same high plane as that
of literature , history and philosophy.
Now all who know facts are willing to
admit that the engineering student se
cures greater advancement during his
college career than any other under
graduate. This result is due to the
definiteness of the aim of the engineering
student , to the stimulus of professional
preparation , and to the nature of the
study.
One of the most important advances
in engineering education has been the
introduction of the laboratory method of
instruction. Now all of the better in
stitutions have extensive and well-
equipped laboratories fitted up especially
for experimental work , in which the
student receives instruction of the very
highest value. In this respect our Am
erican schools are unrivaled in the
world. In Europe , particularly in Ger
many , are some notable and well-equip
ped engineering laboratories , which have
done much to advance engineering
science , but these are used by experts in
research and commercial work'and not
for purposes of instruction. Although
our engineering laboratories are main
tained primarily for'the purposes of in
struction , a considerable amount of re
search work is performed in them. Bat
few , if any , Americans now attend
European engineering schools , for it is
generally conceded that the American
schools , in equipment , methods and
scope of instruction are superior to any
European schools , at least for American
engineers.
The study of engineering is essentially
graduate work , and there will probably
never be any considerable number who
are pursuing engineering studies beyond
the present four-year course. But there
are sufficient reasons why adequate pro
visions should be made for the competent
and ambitious few who seek graduate
instruction in engineering.
The present phenomenal rate of pro
gress in engineering education promises
still larger things for the future , and
lays upon this society important respon
sibilities in directing the future develop
ment of engineering education in
America.
Danger in Over Specialization.
Engineering courses have become so
highly specialized that frequently the
students of one course receive no in
struction in the fundamental technical
subjects of the closely allied branches of
engineering. This practice is burden
some upon the school and is probably
not of the highest advantage to the
student. But the colleges are not likely
to retrace their steps , and therefore the
highly specialized course is a condition
to be reckoned with. Should anything
be done to prevent further specialization ?
Some students counteract the effects due
to high specialization by remaining a
fifth year and pursuing the allied conree.
Oau anything be done to increase the
number who do this ?
The engineering course of today is so
loaded up with required technical and
scientific work that the student has
little or no time to cultivate those sub
jects indefinitely , but not improperly ,
called the "humanities. " The engineer
ing students more perhaps than any
others need training in such subjects.
Those who follow the other learned pro
fessions deal constantly in their technical
work with the relationships of their