SOCIAL, POLITICAL, HISTORICAL CONTEXT
The outbreak of World War II (1939–45) and the six years of war that followed affected institutions of higher education across the nation, including the Lowell Institute School and Northeastern University.2 It was a period of constant adjustment and readjustment to the demands of total war. In the postwar period, increased emphasis was placed, particularly by larger companies, on training programs for their new employees. As was later noted, “The aim of these programs [was] to attract to the company people who have proven their ability to learn and then to introduce them to the problems that are peculiar to that particular company.”3 Recognizing a need to help returning veterans access the higher education they would need to reenter the workforce, Congress passed legislation in 1944 that provided benefits to World War II veterans through the G.I. Bill of Rights, formally named the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act. Veterans of the Korean War (1950– 53) also benefited from government funding to access higher education. CHANGES IN THE LOWELL INSTITUTE SCHOOL UNDER TOWNSEND
The war and the periods of recession that followed impacted the Lowell Institute School’s enrollment. Although registration was at a high level throughout the Depression years with graduating classes from 150 to in excess of 200 during much of that time, during the war registration dropped so that in 1945 only thirty-six regular course certificates were awarded. In the postwar period, classes were largely populated by veterans, although many returning soldiers, with the aid of G.I. funds, were able to access more expensive, degree-granting colleges and universities. In his annual column in the Alumni News, Professor Townsend reflected on trends in enrollment under his leadership.
52 l The Lowell Institute School at Northeastern University