ABSTRACT
The growth in the 1890s was not so great as that of the 1880s although this decade was one of marked increase in civic university graduates entering industry, as will be seen. In the 1900s numbers grew more quickly once again largely due to very large expansions in the three major civic universities of Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham. Sonnenschein had the foresight to realize that if Birmingham were to become a university it would have to develop a greater balance between arts and sciences. There were three forces other than the sanctions of Victoria which forced the colleges away from excessive technical specialism, namely the University of London, the government grant, and teacher training. The University of London strictly speaking was an examining body set up in 1836 to examine the pupils of University and King's Colleges and other places approved by the Privy Council.
