COLLEGE IN THREE YEARS

The proposal for a three-year college course, mot recently advocated by Dr. Drury of St. Paul's School, demands the serious consideration of President Conant. While, a graduate must grub for years to earn a self supporting income, as an undergraduate he usually wastes an appalling amount of time.

A career today demands so much specialized knowledge that the college graduate of twenty-two finds himself faced with many more problems than the graduate of a century ago. To obtain adequate training he must ordinarily attend a Graduate School. But the time he has graduated from the Medical School he is 26, from the law School 25, from the Business School 24, and from any other School 23 to 27.

This is only half the story. When he finally embarks on his career, he must work for at least ten years before he earns sufficient income on which to support a wife and family. Consequently, should the ordinary Harvard graduate marry before he is 33, parents must lend their financial assistance or he and his family must live like paupers.

While the need for more training is reflected in the development of college curriculums, no important institution but Chicago has had the courage to face the time problem squarely. The average Harvard undergraduate feels he could have learned as much in three years as in four. Certainly the contributions of extra-curricular activities, athletics, and social activities would not be diminished.

The growing elasticity in the theory of distribution and concentration has already made time economies without affecting its basic value. The tutorial system, providing for more intensive and thorough work teaches the intelligent man the same things more rapidly. The policy of placing qualified Freshmen in advanced courses is cutting out unnecessary review. All these factors contribute towards teaching men the same amount, or even more, in a shorter period of time than it took a century ago. Yet Harvard is greedy. She insists on keeping her sons for four years when she has learned how to give them an education in three.

If Harvard is greedy, primary and secondary schools are miserly. They take from ten to twelve years in which to prepare men for elementary courses like French 2 or English A. Despite the youth of students of this age, it does seem that this sector of education might be responsible for a survey education of knowledge which would lay the basis for college work.

Education has recognized these problems for a number of years but it has adopted a policy of laissez-faire which puts even Mr. Coolidge and Mr. Hoover to shame. We firmly believe that the time has come for Mr. Conant to throw down the gauntlet and show education what a real educator can do.

While he cannot change the situation which confronts the graduate, he can prepare the undergraduate for an earlier entry into the strife by utilizing the potentialities latent in the College. In other words, he can inaugurate next September a three-year course for qualified men who desire it.

There are two steps which he should take. First, the A. B. and S. B. degree should require only eleven advanced courses. While survey courses would continue to exist, they would not count for credit. If an inadequately prepared Freshman were forced to take History 1, Geology 1, English 1 and French 2, he would receive no credit for them and would need a four year course. While most qualified men on the other hand, would have to take one or two survey courses in certain fields of which they were ignorant they would still be able to complete their course in three years.

Secondly, any man should be allowed to take six courses a year with no additional course charges. This would permit those who were determined on a shorter course at any cost to receive the benefits of the system.

In this way, Harvard can do her share in easing the discouraging burden that is placed on younger men today and yet give no less in the way of education. What is more, by showing secondary schools that Harvard places a premium on intelligent preparation, Mr. Conant can lead a movement for long overdue reforms in education throughout the country.