ABSTRACT
Catholic colleges and universities have historically departed in some degree from prevailing norms in three areas: social, institutional, and ideological. Since Catholic colleges and universities exist in American society, and since they must prepare young people for roles in that society, they have had to accommodate themselves to the norms and requirements of that society. This chapter presents an analytical essay on the development of Catholic colleges and universities, using the historical record to illustrate the principal types of adjustments they have made. The chapter describes the divergence of Catholic institutions from the American norm and their efforts to bring themselves into line. Since the Catholic schools existed in the same society and were subject to the same basic pressures, there are many parallels between them and non-Catholic institutions. The most critical problem is in the area of ideological adjustment — it is a crisis of purpose, a question of the fundamental raison d’etre of Catholic higher education.
