Grad Schools Suffer Small Draft Losses

The draft has thus far had an unexpectedly small effect on Harvard graduate schools.

The first-and second-year class enrollment losses in most schools have been between ten and 15 per cent. Drops in total enrollment have generally been under ten per cent.

Harvard thus conforms to the nationwide pattern. At a meeting of educational officials two weeks ago, Fred H. Harrington, president of the University of Wisconsin, said that less than ten per cent of those admitted to graduate schools for this year have been drafted.

The draft's effect on Harvard can be most clearly seen not in actual enrollment losses, but in the increased percentage of students who decided not to attend after being admitted.

Percentages Rise

In the Graduate School of Education, 30 per cent of those admitted normally do not attend. This year, the figure was 45 per cent. The percentage at the Law School rose ten points from about 32 to 42 per cent. Admittance figures for the Graduates School of Arts and Sciences are unavailable.

The Law School lost about 100 of last year's 530 first-year students. In letters to the Secretary of the School, most students indicated that they were leaving to get jobs that would insure them deferments. Few said said they had actually been called for induction. Dean Thomas K. Sisson '46 attributed GSAS's 17 per cent first-year loss to similar actions by the students.

Few Actually Drafted

Few, if any, students have been drafted out of schools this year. The danger of the draft, rather than actual induction, has convinced students not to enroll. Even if called for induction, though, most graduate students should be granted a postponement until the end of the semester, according to recent directions from Selective Service director Lieut. Gen. Lewis B. Hershey.

But draft experts expect the situation to change by the summer, when they predict college graduates will fill from 90 to 100 per cent of monthly calls. They expect graduate students actually to be inducted this summer and not just influenced by the fear of induction.