Part-time and adult education has existed at The Johns Hopkins University since shortly after the University's founding in 1876. Because the names and the various programs comprising this system have changed several times since its beginning, the following list of important events may be helpful in understanding the evolution of part-time education at Johns Hopkins.

1877 First course offered to school teachers given by Henry Newell Martin in Physiology
1909 College Courses for Teachers established
1911 Summer Session inaugurated
1916 Night Courses for Technical Workers and Courses in Business Economics begun, in conjunction with School of Engineering and Department of Political Economy, respectively
1924 College Courses for Teachers changed name to College for Teachers
1939 Night Courses for Technical Workers changed name to Night Courses in Technology
1947 McCoy College founded by combining College for Teachers, Night Courses in Technology and Courses in Business Economics
1965 McCoy College renamed Evening College of The Johns Hopkins University
1983 Evening College renamed the School of Continuing Studies of The Johns Hopkins University

Although from the beginning primary emphasis was placed on advanced study and upon attracting students from throughout the United States, nevertheless, the University's founders also stressed the need to bring educational opportunities to the residents of the Baltimore area. President Daniel Coit Gilman and the Board of Trustees recognized the necessity of integrating the University's interests and activities with the cultural, professional and educational needs of the Baltimore region. In his Fourth Annual Report (1879) Gilman stated that the Trustees "recognized the fact that the wants of Baltimore and the region near to it were to be first considered." In addition, it was realized that, as stated by Gilman, the University "must rest on a good system of secondary education and primary schools. . . ." (First Annual Report, 1876). Based on these two considerations, part-time and adult education courses for the community, especially for local school teachers, were introduced shortly after the University began its full-time program.

Beginning in 1877, the University sponsored non-credit lectures open to the public. A series entitled "Lectures for the People" began in 1879, given by the Hopkins faculty at the Workingman's Institute in East Baltimore. President Gilman delivered the first lecture in this series. Meanwhile, regular courses were also being introduced. The first of these, entitled "Teachers' Class in Physiology," was given by Professor Henry Newell Martin in 1877. The class met for twenty weeks on Saturday mornings and sixteen students, mostly school teachers, were admitted. In the following years, several more courses were offered, with attendance restricted to school teachers. Among these were "Teachers' Class in Zoology" (1878), "Teachers' Class in Early English" (1880), "On the Theory of Numbers" (1880), "On Improved Methods of Beginning the Study of Latin" (1884), and "On Early English" (1881). By 1884, ten courses were offered, becoming an integral part of the University's curriculum.

In view of the rapid growth and popularity of courses open to adult students, a formal program, the College Courses for Teachers, was begun in 1909, in cooperation with the Woman's College of Baltimore (soon to be renamed Goucher College). Dr. Edward F. Buchner, Professor of Education and Philosophy, was appointed director of this program. In its first year, 69 part-time students were enrolled in eight courses. The enrollment grew to 189 in 1914-1915, with fourteen courses offered.

At the same time, to meet the demands of students who could not conveniently attend courses during the school year, a Summer Session began in July 1911 with 335 students enrolled in Biology, Chemistry, English, French, German, History, Mathematics, Physics, Education, Latin, and Manual Training. In addition to directing the College Courses for Teachers, Buchner assumed the directorship of the Summer Session. In 1915, graduate instruction was added to the curriculum.

At first, courses taken under these programs were on a non-credit basis, although certificates were awarded to those students who successfully completed the work and passed the examinations. In 1916, the degree of Bachelor of Science in Education was established and an Advisory Committee on the B.S. Degree, made up of University administrators and faculty members, was created in order to set requirements and recommend candidates for the degree. Three students received the B.S. degree in the first year.

In 1916, adult education expanded with the creation of two new programs. Courses in Business Economics, leading to a B.S. in Education, was organized by the Department of Political Economy in cooperation with the business community, which provided the necessary funding. In addition, Night Courses for Technical Workers was founded by the School of Engineering, also in conjunction with the business community. Courses were offered in Engineering, Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, although no credit was granted until 1927, when the degree of Bachelor of Science in Engineering was created in cooperation with the College for Teachers. These three evening programs were administered separately, but the Advisory Committee on the B.S. Degree governed the granting of degrees for all three. The enrollment of students in these programs increased to 1,143 in 1916-1917.

In 1918, enrollment dropped in the evening and summer programs (the former to 732), due to teachers and students assisting in the war effort. However, the post-war years saw a swift increase in student enrollment. In 1919 the number rose to 1,675, with steady increases in years following. By the conclusion of the 1930-1931 year, there were 3,291 students enrolled, with 68 degrees conferred.

The College Courses for Teachers changed its name to the College for Teachers in 1924. Upon Buchner's untimely death in 1929, Dr. Florence E. Bamberger was named to direct the Department of Education, which had overseen the College for Teachers since 1915. In 1930, Dr. Robert B. Roulston was named the new director of the Summer Session, and under his leadership several innovations were introduced, including courses for teachers of the deaf. In 1942, Bamberger assumed responsibility for the Summer Session while retaining her duties as director of the College for Teachers.

In the Depression years of the early 1930s, enrollment dropped from 3,291 in 1930 to 1,968 by 1933. This decrease was followed by a slow recovery later in the decade; by 1940 the number of students had climbed back to 3,019. As with the First World War, the coming of the Second World War caused a sharp decrease in student enrollment, with a low point of 1,627 reached in 1943. But the end of the war brought another quick recovery and, by 1946, enrollment had risen to 3,649.

The year 1947 represents a turning point in the history of part-time education programs at Johns Hopkins, as McCoy College was established by merging the three existing evening programs. Two major factors led to this development. First, since the adult education program had been guided by the needs of the local community, the rapid growth of the population of Baltimore in the second quarter of the century had led to a substantial expansion of this program. By the 1940s, it had become clear that further expansion would require greater coordination between these programs. Second, as the number of graduate students, undergraduates and adults enrolled in the evening and summer classes gradually increased, the early emphasis on teachers and school administrators declined. In view of these two circumstances, the University Trustees decided in May 1947 to consolidate the three evening programs -- the College for Teachers, the Night Courses in Technology, and the Evening Courses in Business Economics -- into a single administrative unit. John W. McCoy, for whom the new College was named, had been a prominent Baltimore businessman, as well as an early benefactor of the University who left a large library and half a million dollars to the University upon his death in 1889.

McCoy College was organized into four divisions: Arts and Sciences, Business, Education and Engineering. Summer Session, while closely tied to McCoy College and usually sharing the same director, remained formally independent. Opportunities offered by McCoy College were intended to meet the needs of three types of students: (1) those wishing to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in any of the four divisions; (2) those desiring specialized training, short of receiving a degree, to enhance career prospects; and (3) those seeking personal fulfillment through higher education. To meet these needs, a total of 171 courses comprised the College's curriculum in 1947, with an enrollment of 4,353 students.

Francis H. Horn was appointed dean of McCoy College and director of the Summer Session in 1947. He was succeeded in 1951 by Richard A. Mumma, who also served both as dean of McCoy College and director of the Summer Session until 1970.

The 1950s was a decade of steady growth for McCoy College. In 1955, in addition to the Bachelor of Science in Education, four more degrees were authorized: Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Master of Education, and Master of Science in Education. By 1960, enrollment reached 6,600, excluding full-time students in other divisions of the University, with 157 degrees conferred. Altogether, a total of 209 courses were offered.

The part-time education program continued to expand in the 1960s. In order to make the program available to students living at a distance from Baltimore, a new center was established in September 1964 at the University's Applied Physics Laboratory in Howard County, offering courses in engineering, physics, mathematics and other sciences. By 1965 there were 7,477 students registered in 262 courses, with 237 undergraduate and 186 graduate students receiving bachelor's or master's degrees. In March 1965, McCoy College changed its name to the Evening College in order to give a more descriptive title to the program and to eliminate any misunderstanding caused by using a name different from that of the University.

The scope of the Evening College was further extended in the 1970s with the opening of new education centers in Columbia, Maryland, and at Goucher College. Enrollment increased to 8,013 in 1976, but dropped slightly to 7,578 in 1979 due to tuition increases. Mumma was succeeded as dean of the Evening College by Roman J. Verhaalen in 1971, and by Stanley C. Gabor in 1983.

Entering the 1980s, although student enrollment did not increase dramatically, the courses taught at the Evening College were greatly diversified. In 1983, 739 courses, given either in evening or weekend sessions, were offered in Baltimore. An additional 124 courses were taught at the Applied Physics Laboratory, 70 at the Columbia Center and 8 at the Hagerstown Center, none of them duplicated on the Homewood campus. In 1983 the College was renamed the School of Continuing Studies to reflect the programs offered at the graduate and post-graduate level. Classes are currently held during the day and on weekends, as well as in the evening. In the spring of 1987, the School opened a new Downtown Center in Baltimore and announced plans for an extension center in Montgomery County.