A Forward Step

What might seem a Utopian scheme of University organization has been adopted by Johns Hopkins college recently. The plan, akin to the system soon to be put into effect at the University of Chicago, provides for the abolition of grades in courses, complete freedom of choice for the student within the selected field of his work, and the substitution of frequent conferences with professors for lectures and written quizzes. A comprehensive examination at the end of the student's work determines whether or not he is graduated.

Doubtless this plan seems attractive enough to students harassed by the absurdities of compulsory class attendance, irrelevant examination questions, and low-voltage lectures. But to visualize it as an easy scheme of collegiate existence is to make a most vital mistake. Students in our own department of Social Institutions will declare that the freedom of scope which their individual projects allow them, that the sense of achievement which they hope to acquire from reaching conclusions through their own industry instead of memorizing the erudition of others, and the independence of mind and method which may come to be theirs, are invaluable experiences. But they will all rise up in chorus to tell you that the work is hard--infinitely more difficult and more demanding than the ordinary lecture course.

But, as the moralists will tell you, nothing that is easy to get is worth much. Daily Californian.