YOUNGER FRESHMEN?

There has been some comment of late upon the disorganization of the Senior class caused by the increasing number of three-year graduation, and various methods of obviating the difficulty have been suggested. We believe that an increase in the requirements for a three-year degree is preferable to a reduction of the regular College course to that period, but there is another plan which is well worth considering. If the average entrance age could be lowered, there would be much less need of going through in three years in order to get into business at an early age. The average man who takes a degree at Harvard in the ordinary time and then goes to one of the professional schools is usually pretty well along in years before he begins his career, and often wishes that he had been able to get his education earlier.

This reduction of age might be brought about, as at Annapolis and West Point, by an entrance age limit, but a better method would be a change in the entrance examinations. If these were made more elementary in character but none the less thorough, a year at preparatory school could practically be transferred to College, increasing the number of courses required for the degree and graduating the average student a year younger than under the present system. The great question is whether or not this would make Freshmen too young for their responsibilities, for it is generally admitted that it would be desirable if the average age at graduation could be made lower.