In 1868, when this collection of examinations begins, there were only 148 students enrolled at Wesleyan University. By 1970, the end date of this collection, the student enrollment was up to 1,393 students and the school had been admitting women for two years. In the latter part of the 19th century, the curriculum was a very different format than what it became by the late 1960s. In the 1860s, the courses for the students were pre-planned each term according to their academic focus. There were requirements for admission to the university in Latin, Greek, Mathematics, and English, although if students wished to only take literary and scientific courses, they did not have to be familiar with Latin and Greek. There was a general course of study that included languages, mathematics, various sciences, government, philosophy, and history. There was also a scientific course of study offered with more focus on the sciences and fewer courses in Latin and Greek. Later in the 19th century, a student could chose among the classical course in which he or she earned a bachelor of arts, the Latin-scientific course in which he or she earned a bachelor of philosophy, and the scientific course in which he or she earned a bachelor of science.

Beginning in the early 20th century, new departments were established and students were able to choose courses among the different departments. The departments included Latin, Greek, Hebrew, German, romance languages, English literature, English language, public speaking, history, economics and social science, philosophy, psychology, ethics and religion, mathematics, physics, astronomy, chemistry, geology, biology, physical education, military science and tactics, and the required freshman course, fundamentals of student life. The departments were divided into three categories or divisions which still exist today: arts and humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences and math. Students were and are still required to take courses in all three divisions of the curriculum in order to ensure a well rounded liberal education. By the mid-20th century, several departments were added to include art, classics (a combination of the Latin and Greek departments), music, philosophy and ethics, and religion. More departments were added to the curriculum following World War II, including Chinese, theater, and Russian. In the 1961-1962 catalog, the section on the background and history of the university states that the years since the end of World War II have been characterized by self-study and controlled experimentation seeking ways in which to make liberal education more meaningful and vital to each student. By this point, the College of Letters and the College of Social Sciences (also known as the Public Affairs Program) had been established. With the exception of a few additional departments, the curriculum has remained similar to what it became in the early 1960s.