“One peculiar characteristic of the colonial colleges is that there was little emphasis on completing degrees. Many students matriculated and then left college after a year or two, apparently with none of the stigma we now associate with “dropouts.” College students probably constituted less than 1% of the population. Enrollments were modest even in terms of the 18th-century population.
When the College of Rhode Island opened in 1765, only one student enrolled. Two years later, the total enrollment was 10. By 1707 Yale College had conferred bachelor’s degrees upon a total of 18 students. At the College of William & Mary so few undergraduates petitioned for graduation that in 1768 a new governor of Virginia, Lord Botetourt, resolved to provide both a push and a pull to the conferring of the bachelor of arts degree. His strategy was to put up substantial prize money and medallion awards for commencement week oratory contests. The governor, who surprised both himself and the colonists by his unexpected fondness for the college, insisted on the interesting requirement that only degree candidates were eligible to participate. Botetourt’s plan was appealing. Several students completed degrees, and the fortunate few who won prizes left the college wiser and wealthier than their less academically ambitious fellows. Historian Phyllis Vine argued that the ascent of commencement ceremonies as a solemn, prestigious event coincided with the increased recognition by colonial leaders that a college education signaled a young man’s entry into a position of power and responsibility in adult life.” From Thelin’s History of American Higher Education
Deep Thoughts on Higher Ed and Life 