The institute was no longer teaching a basic high school education, trade was now included. This concept of learning was so essential to the school; no student was allowed to receive a diploma until they had become proficient in trade. The school also adjusted it’s teaching of trade between boys and girls who chose to attend. While both boys and girls were taught the basic courses, such as math and history, each gender was taught accustomed courses fit for them and their potential futures. The young African American men were taught how to plant crops, work and fix machinery, this of that nature. Meanwhile, the girls took lessons in laundry, dress making, cooking, things that suit a woman. 

Going beyond that of just learning what needs to be taught, the school offered courses on passions. The educational center was known for many things, one of them being their prosperous school band. Including an auditorium with separate sound proof rooms for practice, the institute allowed for the practice of all instruments. Professor Valentine, the principals of the school and a former Harvard graduate, believed that every student should master an instrument. This showed the true care for students that the Tuskegee of the North had in its teaching. However, the students time in the school was not spent on pure learning. The kids were required to work at different positions in the school. They were all responsible for keeping the majority of the school running.

The reason behind why the school was ran so thoughtfully and so distinguished was because Professor Valentine argued that the life for an African American in the North was in fact, much harder than those who lived in the South. Despite all of the racism promoted in Southern states, African Americans were not expected to accommodate to the lifestyle of the whites. Professor Valentine disagreed with the statement that African Americans needed more help in the South for that reason. In the North, African Americans were expected to adjust to the level of whites and work just as much and as hard. There was more expected from African Americans in the North, so much so that Professor Valentine firmly believed that “problems in life do not differ from a white man to a negro in the North.” The Tuskegee institute was built to serve this purpose and prepare the African American race for the white-man working field.