ABSTRACT
My remarks are about the prospects in the twenty-first century of universities of the type which gradually emerged in modem times in Europe and then, since the third quarter of the nineteenth century, in the United States. I do not have in mind all institutions which are called universities. I think primarily of those which have traditions of the advancement of learning. By the advance ment of learning, I mean the successful effort to discover fundamental truths over the whole range of important subjects through scientific and scholarly research, to educate outstandingly able young persons towards deeper under standing and appreciation, and to train them for the intellectual-practical pro fessions. I do not think that those kinds of universities are the only ones which will exist or should exist. The leading universities even in the best of times have never had a monopoly of higher education and research in Europe or North America. Indeed higher education, in Great Britain, Germany, the United States, Italy, the Scandinavian countries, has always been polymor phous. There have been specialized colleges of particular sciences, engineer ing colleges, commercial colleges, mining academies, colleges of chemistry, teacher training colleges, and many others. These institutions have offered professional and advanced occupational training and certification. Sometimes, they have been called universities, sometimes they have been called colleges, normal schools, institutes, and so on. Even where they are called universities, it is well understood that they are different from universities given to the advancement of learning.
