Granting sabbatical leave as a stimulus to scholarly growth and as a broadening of outlook appeared among the earliest fringe benefits provided faculty members by institutions of higher education in the United States. This report on the history of sabbatical leave and present practices in that area should be helpful to institutions engaged in the initiation or modification of faculty leave policies. The findings are based primarily on information secured from reference librarians, historians, archivists, or other responsible officials of the 72 institutions selected for study. Contents include: (1) Earliest institutions to introduce sabbatical leave; (2) Definition and purpose of sabbatical leave; (3) Previous historical studies; (4) Method of present study; (5) Fifty pioneer institutions; (6) Publicly controlled institutions; (7) Institutions for women; (8) Organizational studies; (9) Summary of present sabbatical leave practices of 48 pioneer institutions; and (10) Studies of special types of institutions. Four appendices provide: (1) Details of methods of present study; (2) Extracts from institutional letters and reports; (3) Details of present sabbatical leave practices of 48 pioneer institutions; and (4) Annotated bibliography. Students of the history of higher education in the United States will find this to be a definitive history of early sabbatical leave practices, derived from primary sources. An index is included. (Contains 69 footnotes.) [Best copy available has been provided.]