Another interesting titbit about summer from the book
[quote]
President Harper, in starting the summer work at Chicago in 1894, showed the same boldness and determination as President Eliot in introducing the elective system at Harvard. He made it the full equivalent of the other quarters, with instructors of the highest standing and full university credit for the work done. It was an astonishing success from the start, and is one of the most profitable features of the University of Chicago in every sense of the word. The work done in the summer is in general both more
thorough and more advanced than that of the winter quarters, and the university has extended its influence all over the South and West by means of it.
Other universities have imitated the plan more or less completely and with similar success
Why, then, was Yale’s summer school a failure?.. In my opinion the fundamental cause of its failure was the half-hearted spirit in which it was undertaken. It was attached to, not incorporated in, the university. It was regarded by some of the Yale men as an unpromising, if not dangerous, innovation, and full university credits were refused to the summer students. This lack of confidence in the work creates a bad impression.[\quote]