Influences Of Puritanism On American Higher Education In Colonial Period

Nowadays, the United States is a centre of higher education. There are more than 4,000 universities, colleges, and other institutions of higher learning in America, the top level of which may be considered as the most advanced in the world. Universities in the United States range from prestigious Harvard University (established in 1636) to the local community colleges.This achievement of growth and expansion began more than 300 years ago before the United States existed. Since the 17th century, higher education in the United States has made great achievements throughout the following centuries. At the same time, each college had its own characteristics in the development of collegiate growth. Historically speaking, American higher education was derived from religions, especially Puritanism. The Puritans set up the first institution of higher learning in North America, and that was Harvard College. In the colonial colleges, clergymen, government officials and other professionals were Puritans' educational goals; in the curriculum design, Theology, Classical Languages and Literature were important as well as Modern Natural Science and Vocational Training Courses; in the college governance, they paid more attention to opinions of secular parties and fulfilled the actual needs of social development; in the fund-raising, they maintained close link to the society.This thesis gets down to the Puritans'religious views, the Puritans'values and the Puritans' political views, elaborating influences of Puritanism on American higher education from four aspects:educational goals, curriculum design, college governance and fund-raising in the hope that they can give some inspiration for the development of modern higher education.