EVOLUTION OF THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM. 255 



It is true, no doubt, that the hope of a degree 

 coaxes some men to stay in college longer than 

 they otherwise would. This seems a good thing, 

 but is it ? Higher education is not working for a 

 degree. It may be incompatible with it. It is 

 putting a cheap price on culture to induce the stu- 

 dent to take it, not because he wants it, but be- 

 cause he wants something else. If a student's 

 work is purely perfunctory, the sooner he leaves it 

 for something real the better. If the degree is 

 merely a bait to lure him on, it is unworthy alike 

 of the college and of the student. 



Shall we then abandon the Bachelor's degree, 

 and give to each student merely the certificates of 

 the professors under whom he has studied ? Some 

 day, perhaps, but certainly not yet. It was a French 

 writer, Joubert, who said, " All truth it is not well 

 to tell ; but all trtitJis it will be well to tell when 

 we can all tell them together." There is the wis- 

 dom of the serpent in this saying. Degrees are 

 childish things, and it would be well to lay them 

 aside ; but this we cannot do till we can all do it 

 together. Some ten years ago. Chancellor Gregory 

 of the State University of Illinois held the opinion 

 that the college degrees were undesirable adjuncts of 

 college training. It was decided that by the Uni- 

 versity of Illinois no degrees should be granted. 

 But this decision worked adversely to the interests 

 of the college. Many students came there to study, 

 who went elsewhere to complete their work. The 

 degree might be useless, but the students wanted it, 

 and went to other colleges where degrees were still 

 given. The times were not ready for this change, 



