STANDING ROOM ONLY

No one will deny the post-war necessity of limiting the number of students in the College, unfortunate as this restriction may be for those individuals who, having decided upon Harvard as the institution of their choice, are turned away. It is generally recognized that the war has overcrowded the classroom and lecture hall, and that universities and colleges throughout the country, have been forced to raise an admittance harrier in self-protection. Especially is this true of Harvard as a result of the rapidly increasing size of its Freshman classes since 1918. There must be some limit if students are to be properly taught.

In this connection it is interesting to note that in the President's Report for 1926-27 it is pointed out that 16 men "fully qualified from a scholastic point of view and who were morally acceptable" were refused entrance to the Class of 1931 because of the numerical limitation requirement. Furthermore, in the colleges of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts the total number of applicants turned away was 141, of which 28 were men and 113 women.

While there are no similar statistics from other states with which to compare these of Massachusetts, it is safe to assume that investigation would show that the number of students barred from their chosen institution in other states is smaller. Naturally there is nothing alarming about the situation. The small number of men and women refused admittance makes it probable that all the applicants could and did find second or third choices which proved satisfactory. There is certainly no cause for assuming that limitations on numbers is keeping properly qualified persons from the realms of higher learning. This, in the last analysis, would be the main objection to restriction. As it is, the efficiency of instruction is the most important outlook, and the restriction of the entering class is the surest way of its maintenance.