~ 253 ~ International Journal of Physical Education, Sports and Health 2024; 11(5): 253-266 P-ISSN: 2394-1685 E-ISSN: 2394-1693 Impact Factor (RJIF): 5.38 IJPESH 2024; 11(5): 253-266 © 2024 IJPESH https://www.kheljournal.com Received: 13-07-2024 Accepted: 16-08-2024 Dr. Steven Ross Murray Physical Education Program, University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA 94720, USA Haylei Storm Archer Physical Education Program, University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA 94720, USA Alyssa Valenzuela Physical Education Program, University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA 94720, USA Dr. Kristin J. Heumann Department of Kinesiology, Colorado Mesa University, Grand Junction, CO 81501, USA Corresponding Author: Dr. Steven Ross Murray Physical Education Program, University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA 94720, USA The prevalence of physical education in elite public universities of the United States of America Steven Ross Murray, Haylei Storm Archer, Alyssa Valenzuela and Kristin J. Heumann DOI: https://doi.org/10.22271/kheljournal.2024.v11.i5d.3528 Abstract Since the 1800s, physical education (PE) has been used to improve college students’ health. In the 1920s, it was a cornerstone to American academe, and 97 percent of colleges and universities required it. Over the last century, that number dropped to 31.7% nationally, but specific data on elite public institutions are unknown. We examined PE in the top-25 public institutions of higher education in the USA. Each institution offered PE, and 96% partially required while 12% required PE for undergraduate students. The 96% far surpasses the 43.7% found nationally, but the 12% is below the national rate. As such, PE is more prevalent in American elite institutions, but fewer require it of all undergraduates. Future research should examine PE programming in all tertiary educational institutions, on both regional and state bases as well as for elite private colleges and universities and those institutions serving specific populations. Keywords: Basic Instruction Programs, Service Programs, Physical Activity Programs 1. Introducti on Efforts to improve the health and wellness of American college students via physical education trace their beginnings to the 1820s, where the faculty at Harvard University and later the faculties at institutions such as Dartmouth College, Yale University, and Amherst College, introduced gymnastics training for students, mirroring the existing practice at many German and Scandinavian institutions of higher education at the time [1] . In 1830, the Reverend Dr. Edward Hitchcock, a professor at and later the president of Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts, offered some of the first physical education instruction in American academe by lecturing on topics such as diet and exercise to college students [2-4] . By 1860, his son, Dr. Edward C. Hitchcock, Jr., would be instrumental in leading the newly founded Department of Hygiene and Physical Education, generally recognized as the first such program in the country - N.B., the United States Military Academy had physical training since its inception and gymnastics by 1839, confounding the issue of primacy [5] - when the original holder of the professorship, Dr. John W. Hooker, after only one year in the position, took ill, resigned, and sadly, succumbed to his ailments [6-8] . The position Hitchcock assumed was well defined by the trustees of the college and involved the following: The duties of the professor shall be: …To take a general oversight of the health of the students, …give lectures… pertaining to the laws of life and health, …and distinctly understand that the health of the students shall at all times be an object of his special watch, care, and counsel. …The exercises in the gymnasium should be conducted according to the following ideas: First. The main object shall not be to secure feats of agility and strength, or even powerful muscle, but to keep in good health the whole body. Second. That all the students shall be required [emphasis added] to attend on its exercises… The instructor shall assign to each individual such exercises as may be best adapted to him…Time shall be allowed…for those volunteer exercises which different men, according to their tastes, may elect for recreation [9] ” (p. 47).