Authorities Study NYA Finance Program to Supplement TSE

Jobs from the National Youth Administration Work Program may supplement the Temporary Student Employment Plan next year and give about 700 needy undergraduates and graduates a chance to earn $120 a year.

The N.Y.A. plan is under consideration by the Administration, it is understood, although no action is expected in the near future.

If the plan were to be adopted by the University, it would mean that the Federal Government would supply up to $80,000 to be used by Harvard in giving work to students. Jobs might range from work in laboratories paying a maximum of $.50 an hour to shoveling snow in emergency cases at a minimum wage of $.30 an hour.

State Administrator Explains

"We don't care what sort of work the college students under the N.Y.A. plan do so long as it is useful and does not displace any regular worker from his job," John L. Donovan '24, State Administrator for the Youth Administration, said, describing the function of the Work Program in colleges all over the country.

"As a matter of fact, we don't have anything to do with the selection of jobs. We leave that to the colleges," he said. "All we care about is that the students work a good, solid hour for every hour they get paid for."

He pointed out that the program is not a political measure and that it has been lacked in Congress by members of both parties. "The Government does not interfere in the administration of the jobs unless it feels that there is cheating," he emphasized.

Yale, Cornell Have It

Yale, Dartmouth, Cornell, Stanford, and Chicago are among the universities whose students profit by the Work Program.

The N.Y.A. jobs, if they are used at Harvard, will not replace the T.S.E., and it will be perfectly possible, if the plan is accepted, for a student to hold an N.Y.A. job as well as another one or as well as a scholarship. The University will, under such a plan, determine who is to get jobs and who is not.

All that the Government asks is that the student be getting passing marks in three-quarters of his courses, which at a four-course school like Harvard would mean Group VI, three C's and a D. Financial eligibility is determined by requirements similar to those for scholarships.

$21 Per Month

While maximum wages for graduate students may range from $20 to $30 a month and those of undergraduates from $10 to $20, the average is about $21 for graduates and $13 or $14 for College students. Each institution is given funds which amount to $15 a month for every student under the N.Y.A. and which provide for 10 per cent of all the students. Therefore, if one graduate student makes $25 in a month, it is necessary for three undergraduates to make less than $12 a month in order to keep the average at $15.

On account of this provision, a great many more undergraduates than graduates are likely to benefit from the plan in any institution.

Donovan explained that the purpose of the whole Youth Administration program is to give jobs which will make it possible to train young people for their vocations. For that reason the Administration suggests to the colleges that they refrain from giving jobs of the watchman or janitorial type and favors office or clerical work and laboratory work as much as possible.

However, such jobs as ticket-taking at athletic events, landscaping work in the spring, and work for local municipal governments which does not deprive someone else of a job have been acceptable in other colleges, he reported.