"U. C. M."

The abbreviation "U. C. M." soon may take its place in the field of education among others such as "M. I. T.", M. A. C.", "B. U.", and "B. C.". The "University of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts" is as yet but a vague shape on the political horizon, but, before we first date our theses "1923", it may appear as the handwriting on the wall. At recent meetings, the Legislature has considered many bills for the creation of a State university, and finally a commission has been appointed "to inquire into and report upon the opportunities and provisions for technical and higher education within the Commonwealth, and the need of supplementing the same, and the methods of doing so".

Should the findings of this commission warrant the expenditure of a sum sufficient to build a State university, most of the endowed institutions would endorse the plan. But, as has often been pointed out, the mere tuition fee is a small part of the expense of a university education. Most men who can find time to spend four years in college, and who are convinced of the advantages to be derived therefrom, find little difficulty in meeting the cost of tuition. It is the cost of living away from home, and the time taken from their work, which keeps many men from entering college.

Since this is so, and since Massachusetts is so richly supplied with institutions offering every conceivable variety of training, it is an open question whether a State university, of the same type as those existing in other parts of the country would help the situation materially. A suggestion made by Dean Holmes of the Harvard School of Education seems to meet the facts. He points out that the real need for higher education at the public cost in the need of those who cannot afford to spend their time at an institution situated in any one spot. A State university, therefore, organized to help men study at their homes, would be the best-fitted one to supply the need. The work would be directed by means of correspondence courses, reading lists, and the like. Such a university would guide, test, and reward the student's work. A degree would be conferred when the candidate, by passing a series of examinations, had proved himself ready.

In a system such as this many students would fail, but, to alter the quotation a little: "Tis better to have worked, and failed, Than never to have worked at all." And those successful would be worthy to a degree even greater than some others who have been personally conducted through the modern "savage wood" of learning.