There are currently 53 places of higher learning in Boston. The schools encompass a wide variety of subjects and objectives, from photography to theology to medicine and math.
Harvard was founded in 1636, and the school claims they were the first such institute of higher learning in the United States. Chartered by the Massachusetts Bay Colony initially, “Harvard Colledge” was first intended to educate ministers and the clergy. In modern times, Harvard has come around to a large variety of degree programs. The college only began admitting women to the graduate programs in 1940, and to the undergraduate programs in 1973! This final change really only occurred because of the merging of Radcliffe University and Harvard, where Radcliffe relinquished all its female students to Harvard. The consolidated college then became an institute for women’s learning within Harvard. [6]
Harvard University Website |
Where Harvard holds to tradition, MIT embraces innovation. Chartered in 1861, MIT began as an alternative to the classical institutions, suggested by a natural scientist as a response to the growing need for technological development. Today, it is one of the most highly respected technological institutes in the world, partly because it has been able to retain its specialty of sharp innovation.
MIT Website |
Boston University has the highest enrollment out of all the higher education centers in Boston, at nearly 32,000 students. Established in 1869, Boston University is the site at which Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. Also at BU, Helen Magill White became the first woman to earn a PhD at an American University in 1877. Although the university was endowed with land and buildings, an enormous fire ripped through Boston, decimating the buildings in the Great Boston Fire of 1872. It took nearly 75 years to rebuild and centralize Boston University, and progress was stalled by both the Great Depression and World War II. Boston University today provides a wide range of degrees, in nearly all subjects at the undergrad and graduate levels.
Boston University Website |