to 1870. The provision for something approaching the modern use of the term, with a prescribed course of study and examination, was initiated at Harvard University in 1869, at Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania in 1876, and at the University of Michigan in 1877. Many other smaller institutions in the next few years gradually followed the lead of these universities. Columbia University, however, did not fall in line with the new trend until 1881. The decade of the 1870's, therefore, may be regarded as transitional in the use of master's degrees of both types.

After the 1870's probably most institutions of higher education required an examination for the master's degree, following a specific course of study, usually one year in length, beyond the baccalaureate, and often requiring a thesis as well. Currently about 70,000 master's degrees are conferred annually. Masters degrees reported by 25 or more institutions each are the following:

A complete list of master's degrees, used in American institutions, is given in chapter VIII. It shows no less than 121 varieties of the Master of Arts and 272 varieties of the Master of Science.

4. Doctor's Degree

The doctor's degree represents the most advanced earned degree conferred by American institutions. In general this is also true for foreign institutions. 28 It usually requires at least 3 years of study

29 The Oxford English Dictionary defines a doctor, in the academic sense, as "One who, In any faculty or branch of learning, has attained to the highest degree conferred by a university."

beyond the baccalaureate degree, often longer, to complete a dissertation. Earned doctor's degrees, however, are of two quite distinct types, which may be designated as professional or practitioners degrees, and research degrees.

The first type of degrees represents advanced training for the practice of various professions, chiefly in the medical fields, the principal ones being Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Dental Science, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, and Doctor of Pharmacy. These degrees carry no implication of original research and are classified by the Office of Education in its annual publications with bachelor's degrees as first professional degrees. They have long established custom behind them, although originally the most common one, the Doctor of Medicine, was designed as an advanced degree to be awarded after the Bachelor of Medicine. (See chapter VIII, Medical Sciences.)

Quite different in character are the second type of doctor's degrees, research doctorates representing prolonged periods of advanced study usually accompanied by a dissertation which is designed to be a substantial contribution to existing knowledge on the subject. The most important of these is the Doctor of Philosophy which no longer has any implication of philosophy for its holders, but represents advanced research in any of the major fields of knowledge. Currently it is offered by 156 graduate schools, chiefly in the universities, but in some other institutions as well. It was first awarded in the United States by Yale University in 1861 to three young men. The degree was frankly established on the model of the same degree in German universities. Prior to 1861, for a half century or more, young men in the United States desiring the most advanced training in formal scholarship went to the principal German and occasionally other European universities to secure their Ph. D. degrees.

Second in importance as a research degree and much more recent is the Doctor of Education, currently offered by 77 institutions.29 It was first awarded by Harvard University in 1920, but was preceded by the equivalent Doctor of Pedagogy, first conferred by New York University in 1891, having been authorized in 1890.30

The only other earned doctorates of the research type currently conferred by 10 or more institutions are the Doctor of Jurisprudence,

This degree is sometimes referred to as a professional degree, but, unlike other professional degrees it requires a research dissertation. Such dissertations are included with Ph. D. dissertations in Dissertation Abstracts, devoted exclusively to the publication of dissertations of the research type. The most recent publication on doctorates in education lists these 77 institutions, usually with date the degree was first conferred. It also lists 17 other institutions planning to grant the degrees by 1970, 15 of them by 1965.Moore, Harold E., Russell, John H., and Ferguson, Donald G.: The Doctorate in Educa tion: Vol. II. The Institutions, Washington: American Association of College for Teacher Education, 1960, pp. 87-92.

30 Raymond C. Saalbach, "The Doctor of Education Degree," Journal of Higher Educa tion, 26: 37-41, January 1956.

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reported by 12, and the Doctor of Business Administration, by 10 universities. The Doctor of Science was formerly widely used also as a research degree, but is now so reported by only eight institutions, having become very largely an honorary degree.

The Doctor of Philosophy is such an important degree, standing as it does at the apex of the higher educational system, that some consideration of its origin and development is justified. Stimulus for the Ph. D. degree came not from the general faculty of Yale University, but from the faculty of the then recently established Sheffield Scientific School of the University. At a meeting of the Yale Corporation held July 24, 1860, a memorial from the Scientific School was considered and approved, which read in part as follows:

The Faculty further request of the Board that the degree of Doctor of Philosophy be instituted and in accordance with the usage of German Universities be conferred on those students who have successfully pursued the above-named higher course of scientific study.

It is also suggested that the same degree of Doctor of Philosophy may hereafter with propriety and in accordance with the practice of Foreign Universities be conferred for high attainments in Mathematics or Philology or such other branches as may be taught in the Department of philosophy and the Arts.

This degree has acquired a value by long usage which no new degree would possess. Its institution would remove a disadvantage under which our Department of Philosophy and the arts labors in comparison with similar departments of German Universities. The degree which they offer is an inducement which we do not present. Its establishment here would, in the opinion of the Faculty, enable us to retain in this country many young men, and especially students of Science, who now resort to German Universities for advantages of study no greater than we are able to afford. It is proposed that this degree of Doctor of Philosophy be conferred on Students of the Scientific School on the following conditions:

1. That they shall have pursued their studies for the year next preceding their examination for the Degree in this Institution.

2. That they shall have passed a satisfactory examination in all of the studies of the above named scientific course.

3. That they shall at the time of their examination present a written thesis which shall be approved by the Faculty giving the results of an original chemical or physical investigation."

The author of the history from which this quotation is taken comments: "So was inaugurated a movement in this country, the beginning of so-called university development, which has spread to the uttermost parts of the land and resulted in the expansion of higher educational training to a degree never even dreamed of sixty years ago." 32

1 Russell H. Chittenden, History of the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University, 1846-1922, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1928. vol. 1, p. 87-88.

82 Russell H. Chittenden, op. cit., p. 88-89.

While originating as a degree in the scientific field, it quickly spread to other fields, as shown by the fact that of the three young men who first received the new degree at Yale in 1861, one became a minister and professor of ethics in a theological seminary, a second became a diplomat in foreign service of the country, and only one became a professor of physics and chemistry.33

The degree of Doctor of Philosophy, as indicated, was planned as a research degree of high scholastic standing. Its establishment as such, however, was not achieved without a long struggle of a half century or more to keep it from being debased by simultaneous use as an honorary degree. For a report of this struggle, not yet entirely over, see chapter V, "Honorary Degrees."

In 1924 the Association of American Universities adopted a statement expressing its conviction that "establishment of higher degrees above or in place of the Ph. D., M.D., J.D., Ed. D., D.P.H. is inadvisible and detrimental to the standards and prestige of these degrees, and reaffirms its previously pronounced policy that the Ph. D. shall be open as a research degree in all fields of learning, pure and applied, and that for the accepted professional higher degrees a standard equivalent to that of the Ph. D. shall be maintained so that these higher professional degrees shall represent the highest type of university professional training." 34

For many years there have been extended discussions of the significance of graduate degrees, especially the masterate and the doctorate, and the possible desirability of the development of new degrees in this field, or radical changes in the present requirements for them.35

The most extensive cumulative summaries of doctoral degrees are found in the successive volumes of American Universities and Colleges, beginning in the third edition, 1936. The current 1960 edition contains detailed data on 157,650 doctorates, by year, by sex, by institution, and by each of 56 subject matter fields. Of the total, 18,627 or 12 percent have been conferred on women. It also shows the date of first doctorate and other information for each of 172 institutions currently conferring the doctorate. No distinction is made in its extensive tables between the doctor of philosophy, doctor of education, and other earned doctorates, but a great majority of the degrees are the Doctor of Philosophy.

First degrees of Doctor of Philosophy were conferred by University of Pennsylvania in 1871; by Harvard University in 1873; and by Columbia University in 1875. Johns Hopkins University, sometimes referred to as the first "real American university" provided for the Doctor of Philosophy at its organization in 1876, conferring the first one in 1878.

Association of American Universities, Transactions, 1924, p. 27.

For references to the more important significant literature in this field see Walter C. Eells and Ernest V. Hollis, The Administration of Higher Education: An Annotated Bibliography: Washington: Department of Health, Education, and Welfare: Office of Education, 1960, especially entries nos. 2172-2278.

For 1958-59 the total number of doctorates reported was 9,360 of which 989 or 11 percent were earned by women.

5. Other Degrees

A considerable number of other degrees are or have been given, but each by a relatively small number of institutions.

The most frequent of these degrees is a group of some forty which are designations of individual occupations or professions, chiefly in the field of engineering. Only three of these degrees are reported as currently conferred by 10 or more institutions each: Mechanical Engineer, 13; Civil Engineer, 11; Chemical Engineer, 10. Usually they are second level engineering degrees, awarded a year or more after a baccalaureate degree in engineering. In some cases, these degrees require a definite course of study; in others they represent several years of successful practice and the presentation of a thesis or other type of professional report. But requirements vary widely with different specific degrees, different institutions, and at different periods. Nonengineering degrees of this type include such divergent ones as Forester, Architect, Dental Hygienist, Pharmaceutical Chemist, and Wood Technologist. A complete list, both of current and noncurrent ones, is given in chapter VIII.

Formerly the degree of Licentiate was common, usually representing achievement between the levels of the master's and doctor's degrees. Chapter VIII lists 23 varieties of licentiate degrees, but only 5 of these are now in current use, chiefly in a few theological institutions.

At least a half dozen varieties of the degree of Laureate are listed in chapter VIII but none of these are now currently used.

Another group of degrees formerly widely used in institutions for women, Mistress, Maid, and Sister are no longer found. They are considered further in chapter IV.

In recent years a new degree in the field of education has developed-Specialist in Education or Education Specialist. It is currently reported by 14 institutions. In general it represents a year of work beyond the master's level, and was first offered by the University of Kansas in 1950. It is sometimes referred to as a sixthyear graduate degree. According to a recent study 36 made at Ball State Teachers College, 47 colleges and universities offered sixthyear programs in teacher education, leading to a diploma, degree, or some type of certificate of specialization. Degrees listed, in addition

Robert H. Koenker, Sixth-Year Graduate Programs in Teacher Education, Muncie, Indiana: Oct. 1957. 81 p. mimeographed. pp. 8-5.