Academics
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Since its founding in 1701, Yale has been committed to the idea of a liberal education. Such an education prepares students for an unpredictable future, not by training them for particular careers but by teaching them how to learn. In 1828 the Yale faculty reformulated Yale's fundamental educational goals in a report that served as an important guide for all American colleges in the nineteenth century. "Our object," wrote the faculty, "is not to teach that which is peculiar to any one of the professions, but to lay the foundation which is common to them all.... The student must be thrown upon the resources of his own mind. Without this, the whole apparatus of libraries, and instruments, and specimens, and lectures, and teachers, will be insufficient to secure distinguished excellence. The scholar must form himself by his own exertions. The advantages furnished by residence in a college can do little more than stimulate and aid his personal efforts." |
From the Yale College Web site |
Today, perhaps more than ever, these words of 1828 ring true. In a complex and rapidly changing world, Yale strives to develop in its students the practical abilities they need to contribute to society while ensuring that they are able to deal with unexpected developments in the world around them. At its most fundamental level, however, Yale's purpose is to instill in its students a dedication to learning that leads to development of their intellectual, creative, and moral capacities throughout the whole of their lives.
