September 1903

Another modification to the curriculum was introduced, one that would last with only a few changes until the 1930s.  After much deliberation the balance between required and freely elected study tilted slightly in the direction of the latter.  “It was a decided advance on what had preceded it. Compulsory mathematics was retained by a small majority.  Two languages were continued during the first year. A year of science, a year of history, and a year of English were enforced; philosophy, or psychology, and ethics were retained as obligatory….” The new plan was “a system which promised a broad foundation of general study and liberty beyond that, limited by certain concatenations of studies, by permission of professors, and by general faculty oversight.”

—James Monroe Taylor & Elizabeth Hazelton Haight, Vassar