1850 American Gold Tycoon.

"Principal Woolsey, I sincerely hope that we can cooperate with Yale University and leverage our mutual advantages so that more Californian children can enjoy high-quality education in this state." Liang Yao said.

Education is not a business. If it was a business cooperation project, Liang Yao would not have shown his cards so early and provided Yale University with such favorable conditions for cooperation.

Basic education can be popularized by spending money, and colleges can be established independently by enterprises according to their own needs.

But the establishment of high-quality comprehensive universities cannot be solved with money.

Historically, during the reconstruction period after the Civil War, California's economy was not seriously damaged by the war. By the 19s and 80s, California's economy had already emerged, revealing the potential to become an economically strong state.

However, it was not until 1891 that California had Stanford University, which was comparable to prestigious schools such as Harvard, Yale, and University of Pennsylvania.

"Principal Woolsey, I think our sincerity from California is enough." Pillman also interjected.

"Harvard University took the initiative to ask us to cooperate, but we have put theirs aside and discussed cooperation with Yale University first."

I heard that Yale University is going to cooperate with California in running schools, and Harvard University has also offered an olive branch of cooperation to California.

It's just that Harvard's cooperation requirements are more stringent. Harvard said that it can open a Harvard University California branch in California, focusing on the field of chemical engineering. The scientific research results produced by the school will be shared by Harvard and California.

Harvard's appetite was too great, and what Liang Yao wanted to run was a local comprehensive university in California, not a branch of a certain school, which ran counter to Harvard's philosophy of running a school in California, so Liang Yao ignored Harvard.

"Your sincerity for cooperation is obvious to all. Before I set off, the school board had given me a lot of authorization." Woolsey said.

"The meaning of the school board is that as long as Guizhou has the soil to set up higher education institutions, it can cooperate with Guizhou in running schools."

"You have been in California for a week, what's your opinion?" Pillman asked Woolsey nervously.

If the University of California can be established, it will be one of his greatest achievements during his tenure as the Minister of Education, and it will shine in the annals of history.

He will not give up such a good opportunity to leave his name in history easily.

"The popularity of basic education in California is completely beyond my expectations. There is soil for the establishment of higher education institutions here. As long as we can negotiate some details now, I can make a decision right away." Woolsey said with a smile.

Woolsey not only visited the big cities in California, but also visited some towns and villages by train.

Every village in California, regardless of size, has at least one public elementary school, and every town has at least one public high school.Wealthy villages and towns even have private schools founded by local gentry themselves.

Public schools not only provide free admission, but also provide meal subsidies, accommodation subsidies, and miscellaneous fee subsidies to students with poor conditions.

What's even more commendable is that California's primary and secondary schools do not discriminate against students. These preferential policies are not only available to Irish and Mexican children, but also to Indian children.

This is also unimaginable in the eastern states with developed education.

It can be seen that the California authorities are committed to education.

The California authorities attach so much importance to education that even if California fails to meet the requirements of the Yale school board, Woolsey, who was born in education, is willing to take risks and try to cooperate with California in running a school.

What's more, California has fully met the requirements of the Yale School Board.

"Everyone must be tired after walking for so long. Let's go in and find a place to sit and talk." Liang Yaoyan invited the Yale University inspection team to sit in the lobby of the villa.

There are coal stoves and some commonly used furniture in the villa. After entering the villa, Carnegie went straight to the kitchen. After clearing the teapot and cups, he took out the tea that he carried with him to make tea for everyone.

Woolsey found a sofa and sat down, and directly cut to the topic: "How many students are there in California's primary and secondary schools? This is related to the scale of our subsequent school operations. I need a more accurate number for reference."

"The total number of students in public schools and private schools is 85642." Pillman said, "There are also 1.8 elementary and middle school students in Ohio. If the University of California does well, Ohio can also become our source of students."

Under normal circumstances, the proportion of primary and secondary school students in the total population of countries before industrialization is usually between 20% and 30%.

However, immigrants in California are mainly young and strong labor force, so the proportion of school-age children in the total population is relatively low, and even this proportion is generally not reached.

"There are so many elementary and middle school students in California?"

Hearing this number, Woolsey couldn't help but widen his eyes, a little unbelievable.

This number is almost the same as the number of elementary and middle school students in Connecticut. Woolsey has also estimated the number of elementary and middle school students in California before. He estimated that the number is about 4.

This number also makes Woolsey and others respect California's education department. Not every state has the courage to let such students complete basic education for free.

"California's population has exceeded one million, but the proportion of school-age children to the total population is still low," Liang Yao said.

Hearing this figure, Woolsey and others were amazed. They had heard that California was developing very fast, but they didn't expect California to develop so fast.

The population of Connecticut in 1855 was only about 45.

California's population growth rate can be regarded as a miracle in the history of the United States. It has never been seen before, and I am afraid that there will be few comers in the future.

"How much can you personally, and the gentlemen of California, give to the University in a year?"

After figuring out the college's enrollment, Woolsey talked about money.

It is not surprising that Woolsey can ask such a question. In the mid-19th century, the budget of American universities mainly came from tuition fees, government grants and private donations.

Almost every American university has a tight budget, and prestigious schools are no exception.

Take Harvard University as an example. In 1856, a year of tuition and accommodation fees for a Harvard University student totaled about $150.

Only 6% of Harvard University’s budget came from the Massachusetts government, which was almost negligible. After excluding the tuition fees paid by students, the rest of the budget basically came from donations from wealthy businessmen and entrepreneurs in the state.

This is still Harvard, other schools typically pay less than $100 a year for tuition and fees, and the budget is only tighter.

For example, some universities in the South are often threatened with closure due to lack of funds.As a result, some universities try to attract more students and donations to increase revenue.

Liang Yao once saw reports in the newspapers that the University of Georgia caught students and asked them and their parents to donate money to help students.

American University's endowments from wealthy entrepreneurs and philanthropist alumni began around this period.

"I personally and the gentlemen in California will definitely donate to the school." Liang Yao said with a smile, "But this is a state university, and the California state government will provide a fixed budget of 15 US dollars for California State University every year."

A fixed budget of $15 per year
This figure made Woolsey and others gasp. The California state government spent a lot of money, and the annual budget of Yale University did not have this amount.

If you count the private donations from wealthy businessmen in California, the annual budget of California State University, I am afraid that even Harvard University will be drooling.

"Can I come to Cal State University to be the president?" Woolsey himself was tempted by such a high budget, holding the tea just handed over from Carnegie in his hand, and did not drink it for a long time.

"This, ahem, let's talk about it in the long run." Liang Yao coughed twice and said.

"If you have any other requests from Yale, you can continue to ask."

"Yale University wants to introduce three Sinology professors, preferably with political experience in the Qing Dynasty." Woolsey took a sip of tea and continued.

"Last year, Harvard University introduced two university professors. It is said that they had political experience in the Qing Dynasty. Yale University does not want to lag behind in this regard."

In the middle of the 19th century, the ranking of American universities was Harvard University and Yale University.The two universities are in competition.

Although the two schools have strengths and weaknesses in different professional fields, in general, Harvard has to beat Yale.

It is not surprising that Woolsey has such comparisons in mind.

It's just that Liang Yao personally feels that Harvard University is mostly deceived by scammers. People who can be officials in the Qing Dynasty don't stay in the Qing Dynasty for money?Will go to Harvard to be a stinky old nine?

"I will leave this matter to my grandfather. He has contacts in the Qing Dynasty, but I can't guarantee that these scholars can speak English." Liang Yao agreed.

With his grandfather Liang Weiming's relationship, it's not a big problem to lure a few local well-known poor scholars to teach at Yale.

As for learning, it is difficult to have a set of objective standards for judging learning in the field of humanities, not to mention that this learning is still a new learning in the United States.

"Language is not a problem, we have Chinese translation." Woolsey was very happy to see Liang Yao agreed.

"Then there is the field of chemical engineering. Yale University hopes that California can give us a little help in this regard. We hope to send two well-known professors from the school to the Los Angeles Institute of Chemical Technology for exchange and study.

If you have no objection to that, I think we can end our conversation today on a happy note. "

"I can promise you this, but it is limited to general academic exchanges and research in fields involving commercial secrets. I am afraid that professors from your school will not be able to participate." Liang Yao said the ugliness at the beginning, "If they are commercial spies, California will Sanction them under the laws of California."

"Don't worry about this. Yale University is also a prestigious school and will not do such indecent things." Woolsey assured.

After speaking, Woolsey asked his assistant to hand over his briefcase, and Woolsey took out the school plan from the briefcase and handed it to Liang Yao.

"This is the school-running plan of our school and Guizhou, please read it."

Liang Yao took the school plan handed over by Woolsey, and he read it carefully with Pearlman.

Yale University is a typical liberal arts college. The education system in the middle of the 19th century was relatively simple, and the professional setting and depth of research fields were far inferior to those of later generations.

The school plan provided by Woolsey includes six main categories of regular courses, namely: regular courses, philosophy, theology, humanities, law, medicine, and science.

Regular courses centered on Greco-Roman literature are compulsory, including Greek, Latin, Renaissance literature, and humanist philosophy.

Philosophy courses mainly include areas such as ethics, metaphysics, logic and political philosophy.

Theology courses focus on the study of Christian doctrine and theology.

Law courses focus on the study of the American legal system and cover aspects of legal philosophy, criminal law, civil law, commercial law, and litigation procedure.

The medical profession focuses on the study of basic medical knowledge, including anatomy, physiology, pharmacy, and surgery.

Science courses include studies in fields such as natural sciences, mathematics, and engineering.The science curriculum was broad, including astronomy, chemistry, geology, physics and mathematics.All belong to the category of science.

Liang Yao crossed out theology without even thinking about it, and at the same time reduced the scale of regular courses and philosophy, focusing on the field of science.

California does not need theologians at present, nor does it need too many writers, artists and philosophers. What California urgently needs now are scientists.

"You are too utilitarian." Woolsey looked at Liang Yao's revised school plan and commented, "Theology is our trump card major at Yale University, why don't you think about it again?"

The theology and philosophy professors around Woolsey were also disappointed when they saw that Liang Yao had cut these courses.

"No need, I'm a utilitarian person, and California doesn't need a theologian." Liang Yao's attitude was very firm.

"There is another point that I must declare in advance with you and the professors who will sign contracts with Cal State University in the future that California can give you good treatment, but your work results must be worthy of the treatment and salary you enjoy.

The California Department of Education and the Board of Education will evaluate your teaching results from time to time, and if you fail to meet the requirements, leave at any time. "

Liang Yao didn't want these people to take him for granted and treat California as a cash machine and nursing home. He spoke very seriously.