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• 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 media/Milestone 1942 (6) p. 68.png 2021-07-08T17:24:24+00:00 Enrollment Pathway 9 Overarching Pathway for Enrollment Data Throughout the 1930's and 1940's image_header 2021-07-13T19:36:04+00:00
  In this first Pathway, we have created a learning experience that centers on enrollment at Hope. This Pathway will take you from 1925 to 1950 with enrollment statistics. We will give you some background on the student body throughout Hope's history, how tuition at Hope has changed, majors offered, and what majors were popular during the Great Depression and the Second World War. 
  
  Please enjoy to clicking through this learning Pathway or return to the Home page to find another pathway or to the Table of Contents to select a specific page you find interesting.