Society to Encourage Studies at Home

Its purpose was "to induce among ladies the habit of devoting some part of every day to study of a systematic and thorough kind.".

[1] It was loosely based upon the English Society for the Encouragement of Home Study though it differed from that institution in a number of respects.

Further, the English society provided only a standard curriculum and students were expected to complete the course work on their own.

The American society provided individually planned courses and constant interactive communications between instructors and students.

The Society maintained several thousand volumes in a lending library which was paid for by the small fees charged to students.