Includes bibliographical references and index.

The American university of today is the product of a sudden, mainly unplanned period of development at the close of the 19th & the beginning of the 20th centuries. At that time the university, & with it a recognizably modern style of academic life, emerged to eclipse the older, religiously oriented college. Precedents, formal & informal, were then set which have affected the soul of professor, student & academic administrator ever since. What did those living in this formative period want the American university to become? How did they differ in defining the ideal university? Why did the institution acquire a form that only partially corresponded with these definitions? These are the questions Veysey seeks to answer.