Chapter 492: Even Harvard Would Drool over It

"President Woolsey, I sincerely hope to cooperate with Yale University and leverage our mutual advantages so that more California children can enjoy high-quality education in this state," Liang Yao said. Credit

Education is not a business. If it were negotiating a business cooperation project, Liang Yao would definitely not show his trump card so early and provide Yale University with such favorable conditions for cooperation.

Basic education can be popularized by spending money, and vocational schools can be established independently by enterprises according to their own needs.

But establishing high-quality comprehensive universities cannot be solved with money.

Historically, during the reconstruction period after the Civil War, California's economy was not severely damaged by the war. By the 1870s and 1880s, California's economy had emerged and revealed its potential to become an economically powerful state.

However, it was not until 1891 that California had Stanford University, which could compete with prestigious schools such as Harvard, Yale, and the University of Pennsylvania.

"Principal Woolsey, I think our sincerity from California is sufficient." Pillman also interjected.

"Harvard University took the initiative to seek cooperation with us, but we have put them aside and discussed with you Yale University about cooperative education."

I heard that Yale University will cooperate with California in running schools, and Harvard University has also extended an olive branch to California for cooperation.

However, Harvard's cooperation requirements are more stringent. Harvard said that it can open a Harvard University California branch in California to focus on the field of chemical engineering. The scientific research results produced by the school will be shared by Harvard and California.

Harvard's appetite was too big, and Liang Yao wanted to establish a comprehensive university in California, not a branch of a certain school, which ran counter to Harvard's philosophy of running schools in California, so Liang Yao ignored Harvard.

"Your sincerity in cooperation is obvious to all. Before I came here, the school board had given me a great authorization." Woolsey said.

"What the school board means is that as long as Guizhou has the soil to establish higher education institutions, it can cooperate with Guizhou in running schools."

"You have been inspecting California for a week. What is your opinion?" Pillman asked Woolsey nervously.

If the University of California can be completed, it will be one of his greatest political achievements during his tenure as Minister of Education, and it will shine in the annals of history. Credit

He would not give up such a good opportunity to leave his name in history easily.

"The popularity of basic education in California is so high that it is completely beyond my expectation. There is the soil for establishing higher education institutions here. As long as we can negotiate some details now, I can make a decision right away." Woolsey said with a smile.

Woolsey not only inspected the big cities in California, but also took the train to some towns and villages.

Every village in California, regardless of size, has at least one public elementary school, and every town in California has at least one public high school. Wealthy villages and towns even have private schools founded by local squires themselves.

Public schools not only provide free admission, but also provide meal subsidies, accommodation subsidies, and miscellaneous fee subsidies for students with difficult conditions.

What is even more valuable is that California’s primary and secondary schools do not discriminate against students. These preferential policies are not only available to Irish and Mexican children, but also to Indian children.

This is also unimaginable in the eastern states with developed education. Credit

This shows that the California authorities are serious about education.

The California authorities attached so much importance to education that even if California failed to meet the requirements of the Yale School Board, Woolsey, who was an educator, was willing to take the risk and try to cooperate with California in running schools.

What's more, California has fully met the requirements of the Yale School Board.

"Everyone must be tired after walking for so long. Let's go in and find a place to sit and talk." Liang Yao invited the Yale University inspection team to sit in the lobby of the villa.

There was a coal stove and some common furniture in the villa. After entering the villa, Carnegie went straight to the kitchen. After clearing the teapot and teacups, he took out the tea leaves he carried with him and brewed tea for everyone.

Woolsey found a sofa and sat down, and got straight to the point: "How many students are there in primary and secondary schools in California? This is related to the scale of our subsequent schooling. I need a more accurate number for reference."

"The total number of students in public schools and private schools is 85,642," Pillman said eloquently. "There are also 80,000 primary and secondary school students in Ohio. If the University of California is well run, Ohio can also become the source of our students."

Generally speaking, the proportion of primary and secondary school students in the total population in countries before industrialization is usually between 20% and 30%.

However, California’s immigrants are mainly young laborers, so the proportion of school-age children in the total population is relatively low, and even this proportion is generally not reached.

“There are so many elementary and middle school students in California?”

Hearing this number, Woolsey couldn't help but widen his eyes, a little incredulous.

This number is almost the same as the number of primary and secondary school students in Connecticut. Woolsey had previously estimated the number of primary and secondary school students in California. He estimated the number to be about 40,000.

This number also makes Woolsey and others awe-inspiring California's education department. Not every state has the courage to allow such students to complete basic education for free.

"California's population has exceeded one million, but the proportion of school-age children in the total population is still low." Liang Yao said. Credit

Woolsey and others were amazed when they heard this figure. They had long heard that California was developing rapidly, but they did not expect that California would develop so fast.

In 1855, Connecticut's population was only about 450,000.

California's population growth rate can be regarded as a miracle in American history. It has never been seen before and it is unlikely to be seen again.

"How much donation can you and the gentlemen of California provide to the university in a year?"

After determining the number of students in the university, Woolsey talked about the issue of money.

It is not surprising that Woolsey asked such a question. In the mid-19th century, the budget of American universities mainly came from tuition, government grants and private donations.

The budget of almost every American university is relatively tight, and famous schools are no exception.

Take Harvard University as an example. In 1856, the tuition and accommodation fees of a Harvard University student totaled about $150 a year.

At that time, only 6% of Harvard University's budget came from the Massachusetts government, which was almost negligible. Excluding the tuition paid by students, the rest of the budget basically came from donations from wealthy businessmen and entrepreneurs in the state.

This is still Harvard University. The tuition and miscellaneous fees of other schools are usually less than $100 a year, and the budget will only be tighter.

For example, some universities in the South often face the threat of closure due to lack of funds. Therefore, some universities will try to attract more students and donations to increase revenue.

Liang Yao once read a report in the newspaper that the University of Georgia caught students and asked them and their parents to donate money to help them.

It was from this period that American University gradually became a tradition to ask wealthy entrepreneurs and philanthropists to donate.

"I personally and the gentlemen in California will definitely donate to the school." Liang Yao smiled, "But this is a state university, and the California state government will also provide a fixed budget of 150,000 US dollars for California State University every year."

A fixed budget of 150,000 US dollars per year

This figure made Woolsey and others gasp. The California state government is still generous. Yale University's annual budget is not this number.

If the private donations from California wealthy businessmen are counted, the annual budget of California State University is probably so big that even Harvard University would drool.

"Can I come to California State University to be the president?" Such a high budget made Woolsey himself tempted. He held the tea just handed over by Carnegie in his hand and hesitated to drink it.

"Well, let's discuss this in the long run." Liang Yao coughed twice and said.

"What other requirements does Yale have? Please continue to raise them."

"Yale University wants to introduce three professors of Chinese studies, preferably those who have political experience in the Qing Dynasty." Woolsey took a sip of tea and continued.

"Last year, Harvard University introduced two university professors, who are said to have political experience in the Qing Dynasty. Yale University does not want to lag behind in this regard."

In the mid-19th century, Harvard University ranked first and Yale University ranked second in the ranking of American universities. The two universities are in a competitive relationship.

Although the two schools have their own strengths and weaknesses in different professional fields, Harvard is generally better than Yale.

It is not surprising that Woolsey has such a comparison idea.

It's just that Liang Yao personally feels that Harvard University is mostly deceived by scammers. People who can be officials in the Qing Dynasty don't stay in the Qing Dynasty? Will they go to Harvard to be the stinking ninth?

"I will leave this matter to my grandfather. He has connections in the Qing Dynasty, but I can't guarantee that these scholars can speak English." Liang Yao agreed.

With the relationship of his grandfather Liang Weiming, it is not a big problem to trick a few poor local scholars with achievements to teach at Yale.

As for knowledge, it is difficult to have an objective standard for judging knowledge in the humanities field, not to mention that this knowledge is still a new knowledge in America.

"Language is not a problem, we have Chinese translators." Woolsey was very happy to see Liang Yao agreed.

"In addition, in the field of chemical engineering, Yale University hopes that California can give us some help in this regard. We hope to send two well-known professors of our school to the Los Angeles School of Chemical Engineering for exchange and study.

If you have no objection to this, I think our conversation today can end happily."

"I can promise you this, but it is limited to ordinary academic exchanges. I am afraid that professors of your school cannot participate in research in the field of commercial secrets." Liang Yao said the vilification in advance, "If they are commercial spies, California will sanction them according to California law."

"Don't worry about this. Yale University is also a well-known school and will not do such despicable things." Woolsey promised.

After that, Woolsey asked his assistant to hand over his briefcase. Woolsey took out the school plan from the briefcase and handed it to Liang Yao.

"This is the school plan of my school and Guizhou. Please take a look."

Liang Yao took the school plan handed over by Woolsey and read it carefully with Pearlman.

Yale University is a typical liberal arts college. The education system in the mid-19th century was relatively simple, and the depth of professional settings and research fields was far less than that of later generations.

The school plan provided by Woolsey includes six major categories of regular courses, namely: regular courses, philosophy, theology, humanities, law, medicine, and science.

Regular courses with Greek and Roman literature as the core are compulsory courses, including Greek, Latin, Renaissance literature and humanistic philosophy.

Philosophy courses mainly include ethics, metaphysics, logic and political philosophy.

Theology courses focus on the study of Christian doctrines and theology. The legal courses focus on the study of the American legal system, covering legal philosophy, criminal law, civil law, commercial law and litigation procedures.

The medical major focuses on the study of basic medical knowledge, including anatomy, physiology, pharmacy, surgery and other fields.

Science courses include studies in the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering. The science curriculum at that time was relatively broad, including astronomy, chemistry, geology, physics and mathematics. All belong to the category of science.

Liang Yao dropped theology without a second thought, and at the same time reduced the scope of regular courses and philosophy, focusing the school on the scientific field.

California does not need theologians, nor does it need many writers, artists, and philosophers. What California urgently needs now are scientists.

"You are too utilitarian." Woolsey commented as he looked at Liang Yao's revised school plan. "Theology is our flagship major at Yale University. Why don't you give it another try?"

The theology and philosophy professors around Woolsey were disappointed to see that Liang Yao had deleted these courses. Credit

"No need, I am a utilitarian person, California does not need theologians." Liang Yao's attitude was very firm.

“One more thing I must declare in advance to you and the professors who will sign contracts with California State University, California can give you generous treatment, but your work results must be worthy of the treatment and salary you enjoy.

The California Department of Education and the Board of Education will evaluate your teaching results from time to time. If you fail to meet the requirements, you can leave at any time. "

Liang Yao didn't want these people to treat him as someone who was taken advantage of, and California as a cash machine and a nursing home, and he said it very strongly.