PRIZE ESSAYIST ADVOCATES NEW SYSTEM FOR HARVARD STUDENTS OF DISTINCTION

America has great need of well-educated men. As competition stiffens the ordinary college preparation is becoming insufficient. All of the professions are now demanding special training. Knowledge can no longer afford to be broad without profundity.

In this shifting evolution toward specialization the college is becoming less and less adapted to its environment. Prestige and responsibility is being transferred to the graduate schools, while the college is becoming a secondary institution. It performs the function of a "background", at best a mere beginning. To the average student the cost of this preparation is a heavy burden,--four valuable years to be spent in beginning!

If the college is to be useful it must develop a new machinery. It must teach the undergraduate to achieve work of graduate quality within the limite of his four year course. He must acquire a more intimate familiarity with the instruments of knowledge, and this must be done without sacrificing the ordinary advantages of undergraduate life.

In order to develop this valuable power of advanced study, it will be necessary to make changes in the present system. During the first year, however, the conditions will be virtually unchanged. The Freshman will be required to fill the distribution program, and if possible, take some steps toward the selection of a concentration field.

During the second year he will choose his field, and a tutor will be assigned to him. He will take at least three courses in his concentration, and do active tutorial work outside.

At the end of this year the student body will be divided into two groups, Distinction and Pass. Recommendation for the Distinction group will be made by the tutor and all promising students will be urged to accept it. For those who are not recommended, the last two years will remain much as they are under the present system. The lecture system will have to be modified, and the tutorial system extended, but essentially the requirements will continue as at present,--six courses and a general examination in the field. Pass students will receive the regular Bachelor's degree.

The other group of students will be given a separate standing. They will automatically receive the privileges of the Dean's List and access to the stacks of the Library. As an essential part of their program they will be expected to complete the ordinary concentration requirements by the end of their Junior year. Distinction men will take the regular general examination at the same time as the Pass men of the preceding class. This means that a Junior in the distinction group will have the equipment and knowledge of his field equal to that of the ordinary degree holder.

The fourth year will then be devoted to advanced study in some part of his field. During this year he will work on the same plane as the graduate student. He will be allowed to take any courses that he desires. He will work intensively with his tutor, who will give regular assignments and expect written reports. He will present a thesis on a subject from this field of specialization, and this thesis will be of the quality now expected only from graduate students. Finally he will be required to take an oral examination, more searching than is now given to candidates for distinction. The degree which is awarded for this work must be distinguished from the ordinary cum laude that is now given for general excellence in studies. It will represent greater ability, advanced training and more profound knowledge. It will require prestige and honor.

But it must not be thought that this degree will become the equivalent of an M.A. At present 21 courses are required for a Master's degree. It would be impossible for a four year student to carry such a burden without losing the benefit of all other college activities. The requirements for this Bachelor's degree, cum laude, would be as at present only 17 courses, and would put no extra strain on the student. There could be no pretension that the two degrees were equivalent.

It is evident that under this system the Sophomore year will have great importance. During it the tutor will have to enter into close contact with the student. He will have to show him the opportunities and the true value of scholarly work. How few students now realize the wonderful resources of our university! The Library, the laboratories and the museums are appreciated only by advanced students. The average undergraduate never speaks to a Professor except of strict necessity. Toward the middle of his Senior year, with ominous divisionals steadily approaching, he suddenly wakes to his peril and moans for his wasted opportunities. The last months are shadowed with storms and desperation. How much better to have this all away in the first three years, and leave one clear term for real study! In creating such a possibility Harvard would multiply her power and her greatness in influencing the educational development of America.