In 1894 a summer school of architecture was held in Salem and Portsmouth for the study of colonial work. The courtesy of owners of houses built at this epoch allowed the students to measure and sketch the best work of this interesting locality, and in the future it is proposed to make an exhaustive study of colonial architecture.
Both men and women are admitted to all departments of the Institute. Candidates for admission must be at least seventeen years of age, and must pass satisfactory examinations in algebra, plane geometry, either French or German, English, history, and either advanced algebra or solid geometry. A detailed account of these requirements and the general conditions of the entrance examinations, which are held the last of June and middle of September, can be found in the catalogue of the Institute, which will be sent upon application by the secretary. The tuition fee is $200.00 a year divided into two payments, $125.00 due in October and $75.00 due in January.
During a number of years a special course of two years was maintained in the school, which attracted many students who did not find it possible to spend the time required for the full course of four years. This arrangement has now been discontinued and no special provision is at present made for other than regular students.
The Institute has from the beginning modeled its instruction very largely upon that of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and has ranked until the last few years as the only American school in which a thorough academic training in architectural design was attempted. Its professors of design Professor E. Letang, who died in 1892, and Professor D. Despradelle, both Frenchmen, have devoted their whole time to this branch of instruction, and have maintained a standard which until recently other schools have not approached.
Although the graduates from the full four years' course are comparatively few, no other school can count so many of its former students in prominent positions in the profession, and the Institute is deservedly proud of its record in this direction.