Continuing Education student records

The term “Special Student” was used during the early years of Wellesley College to refer to students enrolled at the semi-autonomous School of Music (started in 1878) and School of Art (started in 1879). These students were exclusively studying these subjects, and not in pursuit of a Bachelor’s degree (a Bachelor’s of Music degree was only once awarded in 1883 as a distinction). Special Students could receive a diploma from either school, and a “Five Years’ Course” program allowed traditional students to receive a diploma in music or art as well as a Bachelor’s degree. There were also Special Students taking a teachers’ collegiate course which started as early as 1876 (potentially the year before). This enabled older women who were already teaching to continue to specialize, without being degree candidates. In 1877 this was expanded to allow older women who were not teachers to pursue coursework without being degree candidates. Later, there were some Special Students in Hygiene and Physical Education. The Boston Normal School of Gymnastics (BNSG) was incorporated into Wellesley College in 1909, and those who had been students at the School at the time of incorporation were accepted as Special Students. BNSG students would receive a certificate on completion of 2-year course; the program later offered Master’s degrees. The BNSG program was discontinued in 1953. Special Students included some early international students, including Wellesley College’s first international student, Kin Kato Takeda, who attended from 1888-1889.

Wellesley College established the Continuing Education Program in 1971, and in 1991 renamed the program the Davis Degree Program (and its participants Davis Scholars) in honor of Elisabeth Kaiser Davis, Class of 1932. This program supports students who are undergraduates at a non-traditional age, and supports a flexible schedule (full time or part time). Davis Scholars take the same classes as the rest of the undergraduate student body and meet the same academic degree requirements. There is a dedicated social space for Davis Scholars at the Continuing Education House on Tupelo Lane, and two dedicated residence halls: Cedar Lodge for year-round housing and Homestead for 9 month housing.

[Information from: Glasscock, Jean, and Katharine Canby Balderston. Wellesley College, 1875-1975: a Century of Women. Wellesley College, 1975. See also the Davis Degree Program page of the Wellesley College website, at URL: https://www.wellesley.edu/academics/theacademicprogram/davis.