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• 1 2021-06-28T14:14:19+00:00 Tuition at Hope 24 Information about Tuition at Hope plain 2021-08-15T17:44:31+00:00

  Background Information

  According to Hope College’s first catalog, created during its founding in 1866, a fee of ten dollars was required from each student for “contingent expenses.” Other than that blanket fee, no official charges were established - including tuition. Students were not turned away from the school if they could not afford to pay. If deemed worthy and had “promise of usefulness,” beneficiary aid was offered to students to assist in covering costs [1]. The first time that a consistent, formal tuition was charged and included in the yearly course catalogs was in 1916. The amount charged was 24 dollars [2]. After that, tuition remained a consistent cost for students. Room and board was listed as a consistent cost but aid was available for those unable to pay. Plus, many students were local and able to commute.

  My assumption upon starting this project was that any women who attended Hope College before 1950 were middle to upper-class women who could afford to pay tuition. On one hand, this reality is true. Tuition during the scope of our research (1925-1950) coincided with two major world events - the Great Depression and World War II. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to find that wealthy people were able to afford tuition and attend school during this time. However, our exploration found that a significant portion of the attendees struggled to find the financial means to attend Hope. The focus on tuition is potentially misleading because other extraneous costs like travel, room, board, books, laboratory fees, and various sundries are glossed over. While Hope’s tuition may have been more affordable in comparison to other schools, the full cost of attending college added up quickly. Therefore, in this analysis, I am comparing the full price for college in one academic year including tuition, room, board, and sundries that is listed in the course catalogs. Hopefully, this is more accurate in portraying the cost of attending college during this time.

  Making Ends Meet

  
  

  As a result of hidden, higher costs, many students relied on beneficiary aid, scholarships, loans, donations, and part time employment to afford higher education. One woman, Alida J. Kloosterman graduated from Hope in 1948 after majoring in mathematics. Kloosterman detailed her financial struggles in her biography for the Reformed Church of America’s Board of Foreign Missions. Kloosterman took a gap year after her mother’s death and worked to pay off debts and mortgages on the house. She saved enough for one year in college when room, board, tuition, and sundries were $410-450 per year. While at Hope, she worked summers, vacations, evenings, and Saturdays, to finance her remaining years. Kloosterman worked in the dorm collecting and dispensing linen, in laundry as a cleaning girl, in the library, and filing [3].
  
  
  Kloosterman was far from being the only student struggling to make ends meet. Helen Zander, a 1928 graduate, was financed by her church in Schenectady [4]. She would have paid $340 per year from 1925-1927. In 1928, the total given cost increased and she would have paid $380. In a 1927 letter to Mrs. Durfee, the Dean of Women from 1909-1936, one female student begged for grace from the college. The student apologized for not having the ability to pay back what she owed and promised to get a job to pay back the money with two years of interest within the next year [5]. In 1927, the listed price for attending Hope was $340 for the whole year which is now equivalent to $5,260.13. These are just a few stories of many students who toiled in order to finance their education.

  Data Analysis

  In general, the overall listed price of attending Hope College for one year rose from 1925-1950 though there was a dip in 1938 and 1939. To give summary statistics, the minimum for this data set is $340 which was the given total price from 1925-1927. The maximum was $750 in 1950. The mean or average is $436.92. The median is $397.50. The mode is $380. As previously mentioned, the scope of this research project includes two major international events - the Great Depression in the 1930s and World War II in the 1940s. Therefore, college pricing was influenced by the global context.

  The Great Depression

  During the Great Depression, pricing initially increased significantly and then decreased. In 1929, the total cost for one year at Hope College was $380. The 1928-1929 Bulletin, which is the equivalent to modern course catalogs, that listed this amount was published in 1928. During the 1929-1930 academic year, costs increased to $400. The 1930 Bulletin was published in February 1929, a few months before Black Tuesday in October. The 1931 school year was the first year where the Bulletin would be published during the Great Depression as it was published in February of 1930. Room, board, and tuition costs still increased during the Great Depression as total costs remained at $400 but deflation made the same amount of money have higher value. The highest cost was $410 in 1932. Pricing at Hope was not this high again until 1943.

  After 1932, listed costs for the 1932-1933 school year decreased to $390. In 1934, it increased again to $400. Then, it decreased to $380 in 1935. In order to understand the cost of attending Hope, which may appear arbitrary at first glance, it is important to look at the economic health of the school. Overall enrollments began decreasing before the Great Depression, though this trend continued for the first few years of the 1930s. In 1929, months before the stock market crash, President Dimnent sold Hope’s stock portfolio. This helped to ease some of the economic distress that Hope was subjected to during the Great Depression. The money from the stocks was invested into the endowment. During the Depression, the school was able to pull money from the endowment in order to finance operating costs [6]. The health of the endowment contrasted with the struggle that the other sections of the school experienced. Enrollment rates decreased marginally in contrast to national trends where enrollment increased [7]. Professors and staff took a pay cut [8]. Dr. Nykerk, an important faculty member at the college, ended up losing his wealth and had to live in the female residence hall [9]. In 1930, to the distress of the Board of Trustees, President Dimnent stepped down from his role as President [10]. While relying on funds from donors and the RCA, Hope stayed afloat. 

  World War II

  During the war, total enrollment decreased from 529 in 1943 to 300 in 1944. Enrollment increased by 12 to 312 in 1945. During these years, total pricing for one year at Hope was in the range of $410-$450. In 1943, the Army Specialized Training Program began at Hope with 76 enlisted men. Participants were able to train and take courses. Hope provided engineering courses for this program as the Army College had an emphasis on mathematics and science. The civilian college had an emphasis on liberal arts education [11]. This program was funded by the government and helped subsidize operating costs.
  
  

  When the ASTP ended in April of 1944, there was a loss of revenue for the college as the government had reimbursed the college for its resources. The first semester from 1944-1945 was difficult until the war ended in 1945 and veterans began to return to campus [12]. Veterans were encouraged to attend Hope because it was approved by the Veterans Administration to qualify for benefits from the G.I. Bill. Also, Hope gave academic credit to veterans for service school training. Enrollment mushroomed from 312 to 700 in 1946 and 1300 in 1947. Post-war financial difficulties challenged the college, but another concern was the ability to provide resources to the influx of students. 

  Nationally, wartime inflation increased operating expenses and decreased resources in higher education. There were less students whose tuition money could cover costs. Therefore, many colleges were unequipped to handle the influx of students who enrolled during peacetime [13]. As a result, tuition and other expenses rose to match the rise in students. After World War II, the total cost of attending Hope College increased exponentially, as more students enrolled. For the 1944-1945 school year, a range for pricing was given at $410-450. That price was determined and published in 1944. In 1945-1946, pricing jumped to $500. Then, $600 in 1947 and $700 in 1948. In 1949, pricing increased but with a smaller margin as it cost $720 to attend Hope. In 1950, attending Hope was priced at $750. After World War II, “sundries” were not included in calculation of total costs. Therefore, the real cost of attending Hope was even higher.
  
  References:
  [1] 1865-1866. Catalog (Holland: Hope College, 1865), 35, https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/catalogs/2/.
  [2] 1916. V54.01. May Bulletin. (Holland: Hope College, 1916), 184, https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/catalogs/49.
  [3] “Alida J. Kloosterman”, Board of Foreign Missions Reformed Church in America, January 1950. Western Biographical File, Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
  [4] “Helen Zander: Educational Work in Japan,” Woman’s Board of Foreign Missions, July 1942. Western Biographical File, Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan. 
  [5] "Letter to Winifred Durfee," January 26, 1927. Durfee, Winifred Hackley (1861-1950). Papers, 1796-1963. (H88-0045), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
  [6] "October 1930", Board of Trustees (H88-0246), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.; "14 June, 1932", Board of Trustees (H88-0246), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.; "10 June, 1933", Board of Trustees (H88-0246), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.; Wynand Wichers, A Century of Hope (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1968), 204-207.
  [7] Claudia Goldin, Lawrence F. Katz, and Ilyana Kuziemko, “The Homecoming of American College Women: The Reversal of the College Gender Gap,” Journal of Economic Perspectives 20, no. 4 (Fall 2006): 136, 10.1257/jep.20.4.133.
  [8] Edward Dimnent, "Letter to Adelaide Dykhuizen," Adelaide Dykhuizen, Teaching Contracts, 1931-1068 (H88-0046), Joint Archives of Holland, Holland, MI.
  [9] "Biographical, 1891-2014," Nykerk, John Bernard (1861-1936). Papers, 1885-1961, 2014 (H88-0111), Joint Archives of Holland, Holland, MI.
  [10] "June 1930", Board of Trustees (H88-0246), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.; "Edward Daniel Dimnent" by Paul Wackerbarth, 1964, Biographical, 1889-1965 Dimnent, Edward D. (1876-1959). Papers, 1892-1972. (H88-0040), Joint Archives of Holland, Holland, MI.
  [11] "Correspondence between Hope College and Army", July 1943-September 1943,  Military Training Programs, records, 1917-1951, (H88-0266), Joint Archives of Holland, Holland, MI. 
  [12] "Correspondence between Hope College and Army."
  [13] Roger L. Geiger, The History of American Higher Education: Learning and Culture from the Founding to World War II (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2015), 427, https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt7ztpf4.1?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.
  
  
  
  

• 1 2021-06-28T14:13:22+00:00 Enrollment at Hope College 23 This page describes enrollment trends at Hope College plain 2021-08-15T17:42:43+00:00

  Historical Context

  According to the 1916 Hope College semicentennial bulletin, Holland, Michigan was founded in 1847 by Albertus Van Raalte and other immigrants from the Netherlands. As they started settling and laying foundations for the future, the obvious need for a school took precedent. However, the community lacked the resources to establish the Christian school that they desired so they reached out to the Reformed Church of America (RCA) that provided resources for their journey to Holland [1]. In October of 1851, a Pioneer School was founded to the relief and excitement of the community. Eventually, it was reorganized as Holland Academy in 1857. Finally, the school was incorporated as Hope College in 1866 [2]. 

  Hope College was created with the intention of training teachers and ministers and preparing missionaries to serve abroad [3]. This reflected the importance of its relationship with the RCA; the RCA supplied resources and the college supplied people. The first cohorts that matriculated from Hope were small with the first consisting of only eight men in 1866. Six men graduated the next year. Financial struggles restricted growth in the college which prompted the opening of Hope College to women in 1878. Slowly, cohorts increased with the upward growth condensed mostly around the turn of the century. By 1927, there were 513 total students enrolled at the college [4].

  National Trends

  National trends indicate that there was a parity between men and women in college enrollment from 1900 to 1930 [5]. Moreover, higher education enrollments increased after 1915 and doubled by 1924. Overall enrollments rose during the Great Depression, stalled, and resumed growing in the latter half of the 1930s [6]. Specifically, male enrollment increased during the 1930s and the Great Depression because many men sought ways to increase their employability. Also, many men had little else to do so working towards a degree was a productive way to spend time [7]. 

  During World War II, male enrollment sharply decreased as they were enlisted and shipped off to battle. This changed after the end of the war as the G.I. Bill was created in order to provide benefits and assistance to veterans. Some of these benefits included finances for higher education and as a result, many men enrolled in college. This was significant in furthering the national shift from elite higher education to mass higher education that began in the interwar period (1918-1939). Schools had begun shifting from elite higher education which served students of privileged social backgrounds or those with impressive talent to mass education which served anyone who met the admissions qualifications. Moreover, elite higher education emphasized culture as it sought to form character and prepare students for leadership. Meanwhile, mass higher education aimed to prepare students for a broad variety of vocations [8]. Traits of elite higher education and mass higher education were not mutually exclusive and one college could inhabit traits of both. However, the interplay between the two shifted who attended higher educational institutes and for what purpose.

  Male college graduates continued to increase after World War II with the expansion of men who were eligible for the G.I. Bill after serving in the Korean War (1950-1953). The trend of mass higher education led to the expansion of college and the subsequent creation of higher education as a requirement for entry into jobs [9]. The national maximum in college enrollment gender imbalance was in 1947 [10]. However, by 2021, the gender ratio has flipped and there are more women than men enrolled nationally and at Hope [11].
   

  Hope College Data Analysis

  Comparison to National Trends

  During the span of our research, 1925-1950, Hope broadly matched these trends, though there was some variability. The main deviation was that enrollment began decreasing in 1927 and continued through the 1930s. Therefore, the Great Depression was not the only factor in the shrinkage of total enrollments. Moreover, at Hope, there was never a parity between male and female enrollments. Except for during World War II when men were drafted, men were always more numerous at Hope. However, Hope followed the Post-WWII boom in male enrollments. Similarly, 1947 was the year with the most extreme gender imbalance. Overall, Hope conformed to broad trends in enrollment but deviated with specifics.
   

  The Great Depression

  The overall pattern that enrollment at Hope College followed was a decline in all students after 1927 when 513 students were enrolled. This number was not surpassed again until 1940 when 525 students were enrolled. The decrease happened during the years 1929 (434 people), 1930 (423), 1931 (420). Then, enrollment increased slowly with occasional dips. According to national trends, this increase may have been due to the lack of employment opportunities available for men. Therefore, education would ease boredom and provide potential job opportunities [12]. Another reason may have been that incoming students were able to find resources to fund their college education when before they were unable to. Regardless, Hope benefitted from the gradual expansion of enrollment.
   

  World War II

  During 1941 and 1942, enrollment stayed consistent with only six more students counted in 1942. There was a slight decrease in enrollment in 1943 with 529 students.  Enrollment sharply decreased in 1944 with 300 students registered at Hope which is the minimum of this data set. This is directly related to the start of American involvement in World War II and the draft. However, 276 men took part in the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) that used Hope’s facilities. With the men included, the total number of students was 576 which continued the upward trajectory that Hope’s enrollment had previously taken.

  In 1945, the total number of students increased from 1944 (without the ASTP included) with 312. There were no figures presented for the ASTP because it had ended the year prior. After the war, enrollment increased by 224.4% in one year with 700 students enrolled in 1945. The next year, 1946, jumped by 185.7% from 1945 with 1300 students registered for classes. The next years (1947-1948) increased marginally until 1949 with 1189 students listed. Then, enrollment began to decrease in 1950 with 1124 students.
   

  Gender Demographics

  Looking at gender demographics, which were self-reported by the school in the bulletin after 1935, reveals distinct gender ratio patterns throughout the 15 years analyzed. Men were consistently enrolled more than women except for 1944 and 1945 during World War II. By 1947, this imbalance was as extreme as men outnumbering women two to one. This ratio juxtaposes the year prior, 1946, as 1946 was the year closest to gender parity in this time period. In 1946, there were 408 men and 339 women. However, this data may be skewed because in 1946, 1947, and 1948, students were deducted for double counting but we do not know what gender they were. Therefore, we have kept them included in the data set. In the bulletin, 47 people were listed as being deducted for counting twice in 1946. 113 were deducted in 1947. However, the gender parity in 1946 could make sense if men took a gap year after the war while recovering emotionally and physically. Regardless, male students clearly outnumbered female students from 1935-1950 with the 1935-1941 being the closest to gender parity and the war (with more female students) and post-war years (with many more male students) being the furthest from parity. 
  
  References:
  [1] 1916. V54.01. May Bulletin. (Holland: Hope College, 1916), 10, https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/catalogs/49; 1916. V54.01. May Bulletin., 14.; 1916. V54.01. May Bulletin., 15.
  [2] 1916. V54.01. May Bulletin., 1.
  [3] 1916. V54.01. May Bulletin., 13-14.
  [4] 1927. V65.01. February Bulletin. (Holland: Hope College, 1927), 62, http://digitalcommons.hope.edu/catalogs/90.
  [5] Claudia Goldin, Lawrence F. Katz, and Ilyana Kuziemko, “The Homecoming of American College Women: The Reversal of the College Gender Gap,” Journal of Economic Perspectives 20, no. 4 (Fall 2006): 133, 10.1257/jep.20.4.133.
  [6] Roger L. Geiger, The History of American Higher Education: Learning and Culture from the Founding to World War II (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2015), 429, https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt7ztpf4.1?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.
  [7] Goldin, Katz, and Kuziemko, “The Homecoming of American College Women,” 136.
  [8] Geiger, The History of American Higher Education, 428.
  [9] Geiger, History of American Higher Education, 428.
  [10] Claudia Goldin, Lawrence F. Katz, and Ilyana Kuziemko, “The Homecoming of American College Women: The Reversal of the College Gender Gap,” Journal of Economic Perspectives 20, no. 4 (Fall 2006): 133, 10.1257/jep.20.4.133. 
  [11] Goldin, Katz, and Kuziemko, “The Homecoming of American College Women,” 134.
  [12] Goldin, Katz, and Kuziemko, “The Homecoming of American College Women,” 136.
  
  
  
  
  
  
   

• 1 2021-07-01T13:50:20+00:00 Majors for Women at Hope 15 Majors for Women at Hope plain 2021-07-13T19:50:30+00:00

  Historical Context

  Hope College was founded in coordination with the Reformed Church of America (RCA) [1]. The 1916 Semicentennial Catalog reveals the intention behind the creation of the college as it says

  They wanted a Christian school to prepare, in a general way, for high grade American citizenship and the intelligent development of Christian character; but, more specifically, they wanted a school to serve the three-fold purpose— to equip competent teachers, to train ministers, and to prepare missionaries for the foreign field [2].

  Teaching, missionary work, and ministry were the three vocational pillars that guided the founders in creating the school curriculum. As a result, emphasis was placed on classical training in Greek, Latin, and English. Classical curriculums were often elemental parts of higher education for male colleges in the United States since it was meant to prepare men for the public sphere. This included politics, work, and law. Moreover, knowledge of Greek, Latin, and English were required for admission to graduate programs. As a result, classical training was seen as disciplined and masculine [3].
  The importance of classical training to Hope is evident in the 1866 Course Catalog where the only three options for courses of study were normal (teaching), English, and classical. The two men who took normal and English courses were temporarily absent from the school. Therefore, the classical course was the only active option for students [4]. This analysis does not include the Junior College or the School of Music. We only looked at Hope College. As the school expanded, more departments and courses of study opened up. By 1916, the semicentennial, there were six courses of study open to students - classical, philosophical, natural science, modern-language English, modern-language mathematics [5]. 

  By 1925, the first year analyzed in this study, there were six courses of study available - classical, science, modern language-English, mathematics, history, and Latin [6]. Those remained the same six courses available until 1930. There is no available data on majors recorded in 1931 since the course catalog does not list available courses and no Milestone was published. In 1932, eight courses were offered - business administration, classical, English, history, Latin, mathematics, modern language, and science [7]. These same courses were offered until 1936.
  From 1931-1932, the four year course schedule for each major that had been in the bulletins was no longer included. They were reintroduced in 1933 but only for Freshmen and Sophomores rather than Upperclassmen. After 1933, formal recommendations for four year plans were no longer included in the bulletin. However, in 1945, four year plans were listed for those on pre-professional tracks like nursing, dentistry, law, forestry, journalism, engineering, theology, social service, library science, and business administration. These plans were listed under “suggested professional curricula” [8]. This continued after the 1950 school year which is out of the scope of this research. No schedule recommendations were given during this time for majors. It is important to clarify that women could take different tracks like the pre-medical track or pre-professional tracks without them qualifying as their primary major. These would not be listed in the Milestone sometimes. Therefore, the lack of women in these fields during this time period (1925-1950) does not necessarily mean that they did not take them. For example, stenography was a certification that women could get but could not major in.

  Moreover, lists of available majors were not included in 1931 but were reintroduced in 1932.  This could have been due to the expansion of available majors. However, a more likely theory is that the college wanted to save money on printing costs or felt that it was unnecessary to include the information. By 1936, only “groups” were specified that students could take courses in rather than majors. These groups were English, foreign languages, science, and social studies in 1936 [9]. After 1936, music was added to the list of groups. Departments and majors fit under these umbrella categories but were not individually listed [10]. 
  The option of three science and math courses in the 1916 Semicentennial catalog (philosophical, natural science, and modern-language mathematics) reveal a significant shift towards incorporating hard sciences in addition to classical courses [11]. In 1942, a science building, Lubbers Hall, was opened which allowed room for physical expansion of the science department [12]. In 1943, the Army Specialized Training Program began at Hope. The College provided engineering courses for the troops, so Hope split into the Army College with an emphasis on mathematics and science and the other was civilian with an emphasis on liberal arts education [13]. More information on the creation of the STEM departments can be found on our page about the Founding of STEM at Hope and Women in STEM.
  
  References:
  [1] 1916. V54.01. May Bulletin. (Holland: Hope College, 1916), 15, https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/catalogs/49.
  [2] 1916. V54.01. May Bulletin., 13-14.
  [3] Linda Eisenmann, Historical Dictionary of Women’s Education in the United States (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1998), 350, EBSCOhost.
  [4] 1865-1866. Catalog (Holland: Hope College, 1865), 31-33, https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/catalogs/2/.
  [5] 1916. V54.01. May Bulletin, 105.
  [6] 1925. V63. 03. November Bulletin. (Holland: Hope College, 1925), 10-11, http://digitalcommons.hope.edu/catalogs/86.
  [7] 1931-1932. V70.01. February Bulletin. (Holland: Hope College, 1931), 28, http://digitalcommons.hope.edu/catalogs/99.
  [8] 1944-1945. V83.01. February Bulletin. (Holland: Hope College, 1945), 35, http://digitalcommons.hope.edu/catalogs/112.
  [9] 1935-1936. V74.01. February Bulletin. (Holland: Hope College, 1935), 30, https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/catalogs/103.
  [10] 1936-1937. V75.01. February Bulletin. (Holland: Hope College, 1936), 28, https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/catalogs/104. 
  [11] 1916. V54.01. May Bulletin., 105.
  [12]  Milestone 1943 (Holland: Hope College, 1943), 70, https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/milestone/24.
  [13] Correspondence between Hope College and Army, July 1943-September 1943,  Military Training Programs, records, 1917-1951, (H88-0266), Joint Archives of Holland, Holland, MI.