1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Columbia University
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY (see 6.739). The work of Columbia University during the period 1910-20 was greatly extended. A school of journalism was founded in 1912, a school of business in 1915, and a school of dentistry in 1917. In order to render the largest possible service to the community, courses in university extension were organized for men and women who could give only a portion of their time to study, but who desired to pursue subjects included in a liberal education. These courses, as such, did not lead to degrees, but might be offered as credit toward a degree under one of the faculties. Under university extension there was organized also an institute of arts and sciences which conducted series of lectures and recitals of a popular nature, as well as a system of courses for home study for persons unable to attend classes in the university. These courses also did not lead to academic credit or degrees. In 1920 there were in Columbia University in all departments 1,150 instructors and administrative officers, and in the twelve months ending June 30 1920, 28,314 students were enrolled. Of these, roughly one-third were registered in the 1919 summer session; one-third in the degree-granting schools and faculties during the academic year 1919-20; and one-third in university extension during the academic year 1919-20.
The productive endowment of the university, including the endowments of Teachers College, Barnard College, and the College of Pharmacy, amounted in 1920 to $47,000,000, which, added to the property occupied for educational purposes, made a total capital investment of $72,000,000. To meet the increased costs of education, the fees in the several schools were raised so that they ranged in 1921 from $250 to $350. The alumni of the university were given a definite part in the government of the institution by an agreement under which six of the 24 trustees were elected on alumni nomination. In 1912 the corporate title of the university was changed from the “Trustees of Columbia College in the City of New York” to the “Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York.”
The university took an active part in the World War. Immediately upon the severance of diplomatic relations with Germany in Feb. 1917, it placed its resources, both physical and intellectual, at the service of the Government. There were established at the university schools for training men for both the army and the navy, including work in radio, photography, quartermaster's routine, explosives, gas engines, submarine detection, and the Student Army training corps, which prepared men for the various officers' training camps of both armed services. Students, faculty and alumni to the number of 4,125 were enlisted in the army and navy, and 2,175 left their previous occupations and assisted the Government in some one of the civilian branches. Two hundred Columbia men died in the war.
(N. M. B.)