Home Study records, 1919-1951

Summary Information

Description

Summary

This collection consists of the correspondence and administrative records of the University Extension's Home Study Division, which offered not-for-credit courses by mail. The records include communication with faculty members, students, and University administration (Buildings and Grounds, Office of the President, Office of the Secretary, Office of the Registrar, etc.). They document the Home Study division's outreach or promotional efforts (advertising, partnerships with other institutions), operational records (course fees, registrations, mailing services, office supplies), policy matters (academic credit, prison students, high school classes and the New York State Regents exams) and many requests for information from potential students, nationwide and from abroad. In addition to the short-lived Home Study program, there are records of other adult education experiments and initiatives at the University Extension such as courses by radio, extramural courses (held off-campus, across the East Coast), and Guidance Study (a replacement to Home Study). These are the administrative records held in the Office of the Director, mostly from the end of the Home Study experiment and organized alphabetically. The records do not include much about the origins of the Home Study at Columbia. They are more closely related to the evolution of the program and the continued interest in correspondence education after the program was discontinued. There is also an extensive collection of materials documenting other home study and adult education efforts around the country, from correspondence with individual programs to materials from national associations.

• Series I. Home Study records, 1919-1951

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in one series.

• Series I. Home Study records, 1919-1951

Using the Collection

Restrictions on Access

You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.

This collection has no restrictions.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

Preferred Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Home Study records; Box and Folder; University Archives, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University Libraries.

Related Materials

For a history of adult education programs at Columbia, including Home Study, see the volume on Adult Education (Call number CE1954 G286), edited by Angus Burrell in the Bicentennial History of Columbia University (1954). You can find additional Home Study materials in the Historical Subject Files (UA#0002). University Extension faculty minutes can be found in the Faculty Meeting Minutes (UA#0005). Finally, there are two other collections related to University Extension programs: Summer Session records (UA#0310) and Seth Low Junior College records (UA#0227).

Accruals

No additions are expected.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The Home Study records were transferred from the RBML to the University Archives in 1997 (Acc # 1997.003). One folder of Levering Tyson's correspondence was transferred by Tyson to Columbiana in 1951 and accessioned by the University Archives in 1996 (Acc # 1996.010)

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Joanna Rios. Finding aid was written by Joanna Rios in December 2019.

Historical Note

While Columbia University had offered lecture courses and extension training in the 1890s, Summer Session and Extension Teaching gained permanent status starting in 1904. The goal was to offer instruction to students not regularly matriculated or enrolled in the University. The courses were offered in the evening (after four in the afternoon and on Saturdays), some were non-credit courses and others led to certificate programs. For the most part, the courses focused on technical instruction, and the average age of the students was just over 23. During its first six years (1904-1910), Extension Teaching was fostered and housed at Teachers College. In 1910, the Trustees took over the program so that it was known as the University's Extension Teaching.

In 1919 Columbia started an experiment in adult education by offering non-credit courses for home study or correspondence instruction. In order to convince the Trustees that the University could offer reputable academic teaching in this manner, Director of Extension Teaching James C. Egbert argued that Columbia had a duty to care for the education of servicemen stationed here and abroad (those who could only reach the University via the mail). Columbia University, Egbert contended, was a national, not just a local, institution. The Trustees agreed as long as none of the courses were offered for academic credit. Levering Tyson was appointed Director in charge of Home Study.

Home Study aimed for high standards: each class had a limited number of students to ensure personal contact with and appropriate level of supervision by the instructor; University faculty had to approve the materials before a course was offered; prospective students faced an elaborate admission process and had to work closely with field advisers. To provide these educational experiences to a new audience, Home Study made contacts with the Boy Scouts, the Merchant Marines, educational officers in prison service, and other non-profit organizations. They offered high school subjects to prepare students to enter college and the New York State Department of Education allowed Home Study students to take the Regents examinations. There were advertisements on the radio and in journals. From 156 students in 1920, by 1930 there were 8,000 to 10,000 students enrolled annually for non-credit courses.

In order to maintain its high standards, Home Study needed high enrollment numbers. Attracting more students meant more advertising, which many in the University felt was too commercial, inappropriate for an educational institution and harmful to the University's reputation. On January 1, 1937 Home Study was discontinued and all registration closed on December 31, 1937. Home Study distributed about 100,000 courses to about 65,000 individuals and it ran at a loss for every year it operated. Other adult education experiments sponsored by the University Extension were created to meet the demand such as extramural courses and Guidance Study.

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

All links open new windows.

Name
Columbia University. School of General Studies	CLIO Catalog	ArchiveGRID
Columbia University. University Extension	CLIO Catalog	ArchiveGRID
Subject
Adult education	CLIO Catalog	ArchiveGRID