The University of Wales is a federation of three constituent colleges, all much older than the University itself, and they in their turn represent aspirations which the fable-loving Cymry trace back to hoary days of antiquity. Caerleon-on-Usk, they tell us, was the precursor of the present Prifysgol Cymru; and when in the ninth century Alfred the Great determined to found the comparatively modern University of Oxford, it was to Wales he sent for professors. When, in 1893, the royal seal was set to the charter of the Welsh University, it symbolised the revival of ancient and departed glories.
However little faith we may attach to some of these tales, one thing is certain. The aspirations which expressed themselves in the foundation of Aberystwyth College had dwelt among the people for many generations. At last, in the early fifties, it was resolved to found a University College for Wales, but the problem whence to obtain the funds was not easy to solve. Appeal was made for voluntary contributions, and they came, some large, some small, all giving according to their means. Still it was not till twenty years after the first suggestion that the college came into being. In 1872, when Aberystwyth was opened, Girton had already made its first start at Hitchin, and the house of residence, that was to develop into Newnham, had been opened at Cambridge; but these beginnings were too small to attract general attention, and the new college became, as a matter of course, an institution for male students only. There was nothing to forbid the admission of women, it was simply a thing no one had contemplated; and when, at last, in 1883, a few women students did present themselves, no one thought of shutting the door on them. When the college charter was conferred in 1889, it simply recognised the fact of their presence by the clause: ‘Female students shall be admitted to all the benefits and emoluments of the College, and women shall be eligible to sit on the Governing body, on the Council, and on the Senate.’
Prosperity did not come all at once to Aberystwyth. It had at first to struggle against two great evils: lack of funds, and the insufficient preliminary training of its students. Appeal was made for Government help in both directions, and the result of frequent representations was the appointment, by the Lord President of the Council, of a departmental committee, to inquire into the whole state of Welsh education. In 1881 this committee reported that a case had been made out for Government aid to both secondary and higher education in Wales, and recommended the establishment of two colleges, one in North and one in South Wales, and the eventual foundation of a Welsh University. A grant of £2500, afterwards increased to £4000, was at once made to Aberystwyth; in 1883 the South Wales College was founded at Cardiff, and in the following year the Northern College was begun at Bangor, each receiving an annual grant of £4000. Both, from the first, opened their doors to women.
For the first ten years the colleges directed their courses of study towards the degrees of the University of London. Their students did well, but the desire for their own University and their own degrees never faded from the minds of Welshmen. A few eager spirits met again and again in conference, then followed meetings of educationalists all over the principality, and in 1891 the main lines of a university were laid down by public conference, details were discussed by a representative committee, referred back to the conference, then to the colleges, and the sixteen Welsh county councils; lastly, the press and the general public were called upon for an opinion, and then the scheme was laid before the President of the Council. If ever there was a national University, the Welsh may claim to have established one. In November 1893 the royal seal was affixed to the charter, and in June 1895 the University held its first Matriculation Examination.
The degree course of the University of Wales is a complicated one, and is by no means planned so that he who runs may read. It has a twofold, or rather a threefold aim. The University not only takes cognisance of residence, but also lays down very careful directions as to the manner in which students shall obtain their knowledge. Not only does it demand a three years’ course in a constituent college of the University, but it also prescribes the nature of the courses, and the number of lectures to be attended. After Matriculation, which must be passed in five subjects, three compulsory, and two optional, and may be taken in one year or in two, the regulations require each student to pursue not less than ten courses, of which one must be in elementary Logic, and one, at least, a course of Latin or Greek. Apart from the Logic, the nine courses must be chosen in not less than three, or more than six departments. The possible courses are designated according to their degree of difficulty, as intermediate, ordinary, and special; four, at least, must be of higher grade than intermediate. In order to distribute them evenly over the whole term of residence, no candidate may take more than four in any one year, or more than seven in the first two years. A course is held to include not less than eighty lectures, and the corresponding examination; and since, in most subjects, the intermediate course must be pursued before the higher ones are attempted, every student has to attend some very elementary lectures before proceeding to anything at all like university work. As sixteen is the college age of admission, this arrangement is probably intentional; the colleges are meant to continue school work for one year at least, and gradually lead the student on to more arduous labours.
Since the colleges are independent institutions, they have a good deal of freedom in the organisation of their work, and may, if they please, submit new schemes for the consideration of the Senate, the other two colleges, and the University Court. Without the sanction of all these they cannot attempt any innovation. The superior stress laid on the actual instruction rather than on the ensuing examination is emphasised by appointing the three professors of each subject as examiners, with the help of one outside person, who must be some one of distinguished attainments and authority.
Thus the University of Wales proceeds on lines which, though new to us, bear considerable resemblance to the plan of many American colleges, where the number of hours to be spent weekly in the lecture-room counts as part qualification for the degree, and the examinations are spread out over the whole term of residence, and not concentrated into one or two supreme efforts. Of course this greatly relieves the strain, and it is too soon to say whether the degree will at all lose in prestige from the numerous efforts made to clear the student’s path of thorns. It is probably the best system for Wales, where the Intermediate schools only profess to keep their pupils till seventeen, and there is nothing to prevent able students from competing for scholarships, which shall enable them to continue at Oxford or Cambridge the studies begun in one of their own colleges. Eventually it is probable that facilities will be offered for doing advanced work without forsaking their own country.
Even before the establishment of the University, the colleges attracted many women students from England as well as Wales. All three are pleasantly situated in healthy spots, and the cheapness of both teaching and living helped to attract many girls. It thus soon became necessary to consider the question of a mixed university, which had no residential colleges to simplify the problem. Soon it became clear that, where young people of both sexes were very frequently thrown together, it was desirable in the interests of all concerned to exercise some sort of control. A hall of residence for the women seemed the best way out of the dilemma, and it had the advantage of drawing them away from lonely and often uncomfortable lodgings, and giving them some of that feeling of corporate life which is valued so highly at the older universities. Still it is noteworthy that, to make the plan a success, residence has had, under certain conditions, to be made compulsory. The first attempt at Aberystwyth was a failure, but in 1887 another house was taken, and compulsory residence required. This arrangement seemed to attract students; in the following session their numbers increased, and continued to average about forty, till in 1891 it was resolved to build a large new hall. The numbers then again went up, and have already reached 175. Alexandra Hall was opened with much state by the Princess of Wales in June 1897. It can accommodate 200, a number which must soon be reached.
Neither Bangor nor Cardiff can boast such numbers, but in both the hostels are doing well. At Bangor, after a few years’ experiment, it was decided to make residence compulsory for all girls under twenty-one. The hall and college were brought into close connection by the appointment of a lady, who was also an officer of the college, to act as superintendent of all the women students. Permission is given to women to reside in any house which, in the judgment of the Principal and Lady-superintendent, provides hostel conditions of supervision. At Aberdare Hall, Cardiff, there is compulsory residence for women who do not live in their own homes. At all three halls the fees are very low, forty guineas being the usual annual payment for board and residence, and £10 for the composition tuition charge. At Bangor and Cardiff there are also a few cubicles, for which the charge is only thirty guineas. This plan hardly appears to answer, nor does it seem desirable to let the standard of comfort fall below a certain minimum. There is a talk of abandoning it.
In estimating the numbers at these colleges, we must remember that they do not represent only students in Arts and Science. All three have established day training-departments, and to these students, too, the halls are open, as well as to those who attend the Cardiff Cookery School. In attempting to put the training for domestic economy and elementary school teaching on the same footing as university work, Wales is acting in accordance with its democratic traditions, and trying also to induce a higher class of students to take up the elementary teaching. The experiment is certainly worth making, and it will be interesting to watch its success. English high school girls who wish to take up elementary teaching might here combine their training and their work for the Welsh degree in a three years’ course.