Charles Pratt, in his tentative plan, had highlighted his ideologies of educating the rich and poor alike in an effort to build a better society. His primary goal was to establish an institution which would better fit them for the duties of life. For this, he wanted to build an education system that would combine headwork and handwork, since a combination of both was required to develop a whole man. Pratt sincerely believed that a man could have the best of education, but if not taught to be self reliant, he would not be able to succeed. He was a marvelously consistent man, each of his referenced documents aims to get the same point across to the readers: An inclusive education that taught students the importance of thrift and time could have the potential to build a better society.

His aim was to first work towards improving the community that sat in and around Pratt; throughout his tentative plan, he seeked to highlight that it was in fact the betterment of the City of Brooklyn that was first and foremost in his mind. Since he drew inspiration from institutes like Cooper Union in New York, he believed that Pratt Institute's success could be a model for the rest of the nation; but to be successful it must be able to influence the community that sat in Brooklyn first.