THE COLLEGE COURSE. 207 



That our present method or lack of method is successful, no one 

 asserts. The practical shortening of the college course to three years 

 and the proposition to shorten it still further are in themselves con- 

 fessions of failure. They are more than that; they are acknowledg- 

 ment that, in the competition between colleges, the race for degrees 

 has been made so easy that all the mental training given in the four 

 years' course can be given readily in three if not in two. And this 

 acknowledgment appears to be not wholly unreasonable. As matters 

 now stand, there is ample time even in the three years for men to 

 complete the course for A.B. or B.S. creditably, while in addition they 

 take elaborate courses in glee clubs, baseball, football, amateur journal- 

 ism and other branches of learning, which require not only much time 

 at home, but also frequent absences and excursions during term time. 

 The correctness of the conclusion is made more evident by the fact 

 that men following these collateral pursuits are required to maintain a 

 fair standing in their classes. A fine degree of skill in determining 

 the minimum degree of required work is attained by many of them; 

 and their example is not altogether without influence upon their 

 fellows, for it is well known that among students the 'dig' is a some- 

 what disreputable character. There is no room for surprise when one 

 discovers that business men often look upon the college course as four 

 years of training in the science of shirk and regret that social require- 

 ments compel them to send their boys to college. 



The evil can not be corrected by shortening the college period. In 

 truth, this proposition to shorten the period evidences another erroneous 

 conception of the purpose of the college itself — a conception which 

 seems to be gaining wide currency. The college is not an institution 

 whose chief function is that of conferring degrees. This certainly 

 seems to be the conception of many outside of the colleges as well as of 

 not a few within, for there appears to be no end of ingenious methods 

 whereby those who can not attend college may find a way of passing 

 examinations, of receiving degrees and of becoming enrolled among 

 the alumni, meanwhile adding to the glory of their college by swelling 

 its numbers. 



A thoughtful consideration of the conditions in American colleges 

 reveals the fact that, during the last forty years, a great change has 

 come about in the relations of instructors and students. In many 

 respects this has been greatly to the advantage of both, but in others 

 very much to their disadvantage. College matters have been adapted 

 largely to accord with wishes of the students ; the young men determine 

 almost wholly the details of their courses; they regulate in no small 

 degree the general conduct of matters so that a positive assertion of 

 faculty authority causes surprise and is apt to arouse resentment; 

 athletic associations complain bitterly because stringent rules are 



