The New International Encyclopædia/Columbian University

COLUMBIAN UNIVERSITY. An institution of higher education, situated at Washington, D. C. The university was founded in 1821 by members of the Baptist Church and until 1873 was known as Columbian College. At its inception the university comprised a theological, a classical, and a medical department. A law school, which was organized in 1826, was discontinued in 1827 and was not reopened until 1865. Differences that had arisen among the trustees caused, in 1827, the abandonment of the theological department. In the same year the financial troubles of the institution reached such an acute stage that all the departments were suspended. The college, however, reopened in 1828, and since then has maintained a steady growth. In 1843 it was freed from indebtedness, but it had still no permanent endowment. At the outbreak of the Civil War the greater part of the students left and the buildings were partially converted into Government hospitals. In 1884 a scientific school was established, named the ‘Corcoran Scientific School,’ in honor of Mr. W. W. Corcoran, one of the university's greatest benefactors; in 1887 a dental school was organized in connection with the university. At present Columbian University comprises the following schools: (1) Columbian College, offering courses partially elective, leading to the degrees of B.A. and B.S.; (2) the Corcoran Scientific School, conferring the B.S. degree: (3) the School of Graduate Studies, which confers the degrees of M.A., M.S., Ph.D., E.E., C.E., and Mech.E.; (4) the Law School, which confers the LL.B. and M.P.L. degrees; (5) the School of Jurisprudence and Diplomacy, which confers the degrees of M.Dip., D.C.L., and LL.M. ; and (6) the Medical and Dental Schools, conferring the degrees of M.D. and D.D.S., respectively. The university has a registration of 1420 students and a faculty of 180. Owing to the vast educational resources which the capital affords, including the National Library, the archives, and many special collections, the university is enabled to carry on its work on an endowment of $200,000. The property value of the university is about $1,000,000 and the library, which is mainly departmental, numbers about 20,000 volumes.