erans who do not meet the usual 

 formal requirements, they will lose 

 som? of the best talent in the country. 

 In particular, they must devise means 

 of building on the basis of the very 

 partial but highly detailed technical 

 training that many of these men have 

 received in service. Some of this 

 large group of men, perhaps millions, 

 who have learned about machines 

 and electrical equipment can be 

 further developed, for the well-being 

 of the country, through special insti- 

 tutions or vocational schools. More 

 over, from this group can be culled 

 first-rate scientific talent, provided 

 that the universities and technical 

 schools do what they ought to do. 

 The rigidity of academic institutions 

 must not be permitted to drive av^ay 

 from training talented veterans. 



We recognize a dilemma here: the 

 scientific professions, including medi- 

 cine and indeed all the learned pro- 

 fessions as well, nowadays require, 

 because of the complexities and vast 

 extent of modern knowledge, both 

 breadth and intensity in preparation. 

 On the other hand, the generation 

 with which we are concerned has al- 

 ready lost up to 5 years of educational 

 time, and if the most ambitious 

 among them are not to be repelled, 

 ways must be found to shorten the 

 period required for them to complete 

 their formal education. It is a con- 

 dition, not a theory, that confronts 

 us and our judgment is that the 

 Nation will lose much if our educa- 

 tional institutions do not recognize 

 that many veterans will feel the need 

 for making up lost time, and help 

 them make it up. Otherwise, we are 

 sure, a significant quantity of them 

 will be lost to higher education. 



Further, there is the problem of 

 veterans needing to complete their 

 secondary school training. Many of 



them, interested in completing their 

 interrupted high school programs, 

 will be deterred from doing so be- 

 cause, by reason of their greater age 

 and maturity, they will be reluctant 

 to go back to regular school classes 

 with adolescents, to submit to the 

 usual high school routines and re- 

 quirements, and otherwise to live and 

 associate with such youngsters. This 

 situation must be met. A similar 

 problem confronts many youths em- 

 ployed in war industries. 



Provision for these "over-age" high 

 school students is very necessary in 

 postwar educational programs, espe- 

 cially for those who are not primarily 

 concerned with vocational training, 

 which apparently will be amply pro- 

 vided under present and proposed 

 programs. Special provisions, such as 

 those stated by the Regents of the 

 State of New York, must be put into 

 effect to make it attractive for able 

 and promising youth to complete 

 high school and thereby become eli- 

 gible for college under one or more 

 of the scholarship plans that will be 

 available for talented high school 

 graduates. Otherwise they will be 

 lost to science and to higher educa- 

 tion, generally. 



In considering plans and programs 

 for discovering and developing scien- 

 tific talent in American youth, the 

 needs of these particular groups must 

 not be overlooked since they will in- 

 clude some of the potential leaders 

 of the future, especially among the 

 veterans who will have had war ex- 

 perience that has helped them to 

 mature and develop. They must not 

 be penalized for their priceless ad- 

 vantage, not now recognized in our 

 regular educational arrangements. 



The "Regents' Plan for Postwar 

 Education in the State of New York" 



164 



