Agricultural Education, at the college level, was generally unsuccessful in the United States prior to the Morrill Federal Land-Grant Act of 1862. Several colleges attempted to meet the needs of an agrarian society during the first half of the nineteenth century, but they lacked"... any certain institutional foundations upon which to erect programs of agricultural and mechanical training as well as any deeply held respect for expertness" (6:248). Agricultural societies and proponents of popular technical education were responsible for the opening of a number of institutions which sought to promote scientific agriculture. "The American Philosophical Society, founded in 1744 under the leadership of Benjamin Franklin,... is considered to be the forerunner for such organizations" (3:13). In 1852, when the United States Agricultural Society was organized, there were an estimated three hundred active agricultural societies (3).

Yale University and other eastern colleges and universities were the major contributors to agricultural education prior to the land-grant college movement (6). The first agricultural college was chartered in Michigan in 1855 (2:8). Maryland and Pennsylvania also established agricultural college before the Morrill Act of 1862.

Michigan had established a state university at Ann Arbor in 1897 with specific instructions to include a department of agriculture in which experimental and practical farming and agriculture were to be taught (2 ). However, this was not done because of a lack of funds. In 1847, with Michigan agriculture declining. E. H. Lathrop, speaking at the first State Fair, condemned the lack of agricultural education. He reminded those present that, "... four-fifths of the children of our state... will probably pursue agriculture as a profession" (2:6). He felt something should be done to promote training in the art and science of agriculture. The Michigan State Agricultural Society, founded in 1849, campaigned vigorously for an agricultural college in Michigan. Provisions for such an agricultural school were incorporated into the state constitution in 1850 (2). John C. Holmes, of Detroit, was the prime mover of the legislation which authorized formation of the Michigan Agricultural College in 1855. After a great many tribulations, due largely to the neophyte college planners and politically inspired arguments over locations, the college, under President Joseph R. Williams, began functioning in 1857 at East Lansing (2). President Williams wrote in 1858, "The experiment in which we are engaged is not, therefore, tested fro Michigan alone, but for the agriculture population of the whole Union" (2:22).

Nineteenth century agricultural education suffered from four main dilemmas: inept teachers, vague educational objectives, extremely low enrollments, and little popular support among farmers. Teaching experience, largely guided by trial and error methods, helped improve the caliber of instruction. Practical insights into the needs of farmers and other agriculturally related enterprises added formulation of specific and useful objectives. Increased productivity and farm income as a direct result of scientific agriculture gradually gained popular support for college-level agricultural education among farmer. The problem of low enrollment, however, was more difficult to resolve, While curriculum changes which deleted algebra and classical studies in Greek and Latin helped increase enrollments, perhaps the affective effort was the easing or traditional admissions standards (6:260). Liberalized admission policies were as much a necessity as a matter of choice, since many rural young men were not competing high school and were not prepared for college-level training.

The question of whether higher education should stress liberal education over a wide range of knowledge and basic theoretical concepts, or practical applications resulting in vocational skills, disrupted early attempts to incorporate agricultural and mechanical training into the curriculum. The problems precipitated by this divided opinion have not been uniformly resolved even today. Each institution has resolved the problem of balancing and blending liberal or general education with vocational or practical training in its own way.

In 1853 professors at the University of Michigan expressing dissatisfaction at attempts to teach agriculture to adult groups who came and went as farm work demanded their attention, suggested a two-year curriculum to educate the younger farm people. The lack of funds, previously mentioned, prevented the University from acting on this suggestion.

The term "Short Course" was originally used as an antonym for long course-a term in common usage among rural people to define the four-year college program. Thus, the term "Short Courses" has been used to define educational programs from on day to two years in length. The terms Special Courses, Winter Courses, and Short Courses were often used interchangeably. Such ambiguous terms used to define such a variety of define such a variety of programs has created many misunderstandings.

The Short Course movement concurred with and extended the basic philosophy of the land-grant colleges. Short courses carried on the ideal of practical, utilitarian training to reach people actively engaged in farming an agricultural enterprise. The first course at Michigan Agriculture College, in 1894, enrolled twenty-three students in Farming Dairy . Dairy Professor Clinton D. Smith, who was then Chairman of the Agriculture Department an later the first Dean of Special Courses, instituted the first course, President of the College Lewis G. Gorton, in his annual report to the State Board o Agriculture had this to say about it,

The first course was taught in partitioned portion of the boiler room in the basement of the agricultural laboratory building. Several students were turned away because of the limited facilities (5:V33).

The success of the course was such that thereafter all College of Agriculture students were required to take in portions of the instruction. Because of limitations in space and equipment, the winter course in dairy husbandry was not offered during the winter of 1896 (5-V35:30). In that school year a committee of faculty members was appointed to investigate the possible reasons for poor attendance and " lack of popularity of our College" (5-V35:65). One of the recommendation put forth by the committee was that special winter courses be organized on a permanent basis. The remark, "Give us these courses and weıll overrun you with students," was attributed to farmers in favor of permanently establishing short courses at the College (5-V35:64).

It was "... a development that did as mach to win rural support for the College as any other single innovation," according to Madison Kuhn, Michigan State Historian. This rural support was critically needed at that time because the farm leaders believed that the College "graduates the student away from the farm"(2:178).

This was basically true, but not entirely a fault of Michigan's agriculture school alone. This was the pattern over the settled eastern portions of the entire country. Whereas a college degree tend to liberate students from active farm labor, most Short Course graduates had no other intentions than to improve their farm-related proficiencies. Thus, they utilized their new skills among the farm people and partially allayed the skepticism and overt opposition to college-level training in agricultural pursuits.

The farm dairy course was intended to train people for milk production and handling and butter-making on the farm. By 1897 the demand for skilled labor in factory or creamery operations led Professor Smith to include in his annual report to the President a request for a training course in factory-like creamery work.

It was estimated that the total expenses of a student in 1903 would be about $35.00 which included a matriculation fee of $2.50 and six weeks room and board at $3.50 per week. Tuition and boarding costs fluctuated with the economic conditions in Michigan and the United States. The cost of an eight-week course was estimated at "not far from $45 dollars" in 1911, up to $100 in the 1920ıs, dipping to below $75 in the 1930ıs and rising steadily until today, when the approximate costs are $300. The tuition fee remained at $5.00 for the eight-week course from 1907 until 1947, when it was raised to $7.50. It was set at $22.50 in 1960 and at $33.50 in 1963. Courses which extended beyond eight weeks were proportionately high in cost. Since twelve-week courses correspond to full term regular college course, they now require the same fee as the regular college full term courses.

The State Board of Agriculture began granting tuition scholarships, ranging in amount from $15.00 to $25.00, to state and country Girls and Boys Club champions in 1921 and continued to do so until 1949. Mr. Wyland Stearns, a 1919-20 student, created an endowment fund to purchase students awards and provide for student loans in 1921. The Stearns endowment lasted only a few years, however.

The W. K. Kellogg Foundation of Battle Creek was active in sponsoring activities and projects in south-central Michigan in the 1930ıs. One of the Foundationıs projects, a movement to improve dental care and hygiene among rural people, had been only moderately successful. When several people from the College of Agriculture and Short Course Department suggested that they might be able to achieve several worthy objectives by sponsoring boys and girls in s short course, the Foundation became interested. In 1938 the W. K. Kellogg Foundation subsidized the total expenses for 118 students in General Agriculture and Home Economic Programs. Students were initially selected on a county quota bases, with most of the students coming from the lower one-third of the state. Later, students from the entire state were included. Kellogg scholarships provided funds for all but transportation and incidental costs for about 2,000 boys and girls enrolled in the General Agriculture and Home Economics programs from 1938 to 1948.

Individual banks in the Michigan Bankers Association began offering $100.00 scholarships to the General Agriculture and Home Economics Short Courses in 1949. Since then, from 50 to 100 students each year are given this scholarship form their local banks. Now, all recipients are boys in agriculture, since the Home Economics Short Course was discontinued in 1955. Tuition payments were postponed for hundreds of regular college and short course students in 1933 as a result of the depression.

The National Youth Administration began a four year scholarship program in the 1938-39 school year. These scholarships, covering all on campus fees, went to General Agriculture Short Course students on the bases of need. A total of 239 boys were helped directly by these scholarships. Countless other students, short course and regular college, have benefited from the Short Course Dormitory and Cafeteria built with N. Y. A. funds. These temporary buildings erected in 1941 originally housed 80 students and provided cafeteria facilities for 200. Though the buildings are now only partially used and will soon disappear, they were the center of activities for short course students for several years.

Sears and Roebuck Company offered scholarships to both short course and regular College of Agriculture students from 1942 until 1960, when they were discontinued for short course students.

In 1945-46, with the advent of the specialized agricultural industry programs, numerous scholarships among the Michigan elevator, farm equipment, floriculture, and nursery industries began to appear. In the 1956-57 school year, the Elevator and Farm Supply Short Course had 23 scholarships totaling $7,600 available for worthy students. Numerous fraternal and service organizations and individuals have sponsored scholarships since the end of World War II.

In October of 1949, Henry J. Caulkins, Detroit industrialist and philanthropist, began the Caulkins Foundation Scholarship Fund for boys in the General Agriculture Short Course who have made definite plans to farm. The annual $5,000 grants to the fund totaled over $85,000 in 1965. Scholarships average $150 per student.