Pamela Sain, age 13, of Vale, North Carolina, for her question:

Which is the oldest college in America?

Nowadays in the United States, hundreds of colleges are open to bright eyed stu¬dents. Some take only 100 or so students; others up to more than 100,000. Some uni¬versities and colleges offer a varied curriculum, while other specialize in training for careers, such as nursing. Every one of us, of course, is unique and not everybody be¬longs in the same type of college. Choosing the right one calls for a lot of thought, plus a helping of advice from somebody in the know. This assistance and much more is available to guide any young person to and through the right college. But things were not this way in the past. Far from it.

In 1619, the American colonists planned a college at Henricopolis, Virginia. But three years later their high hopes were wiped out by an Indian massacre. In 1636, the colonists of Massachusetts founded Newtowne College and opened its doors to young men studying for the ministry. This, our oldest college, later extended its educational program into all fields of learning    and became Harvard University.