After Americans occupied the Philippines in the early 1900s, the Ateneo lost its funding from the city and became a private institution. In 1908, the American colonial government recognized the Ateneo de Manila's college status and licensed its bachelor's degree and certificates in various disciplines, such as electrical engineering, making the school now a tertiary institution. The Ateneo campus housed other Jesuit institutions of research and learning, such as the Manila Observatory and the San José Major Seminary. In 1909, the Jesuits removed the word ""Municipal"" from the school's name and it became simply the "Ateneo de Manila".