400 



NA TURE 



[JuNF. 3, 1909 



order that State institutions of tlie requisite academic 

 grade wliich " apply through their governing boards, 

 with the sanction of the legislature," might also par- 

 ticipate in the benefits of the foundation. 



Ihe annual reports of this foundation show how 

 far-reaching may be the etlects of a wisely adminis- 

 tered, wealthy trust, even tnough it has been estab- 

 lished for what may seem a narrow and special pur- 

 pose. These effects will be all the more important 

 now that the State institutions mav hp admitted to 

 share in the grants. In Scotland, the Carnegie Trust, 

 which devotes part of its income to the payment of 

 fees at the universities, has e.\ercised a considerable 

 influence in raising the standard of university, profes- 

 sional, and technical education by granting its favours 

 only to those who reach a high preliminary standard 

 of attainment, and who show fair abilit}' and sufficient 

 industry in their university studies. So there are 

 already clear proofs that the Foundation for the Ad- 

 vancement of Teaching is quickening the movement 

 in America for improved secondary education, raising 

 the standard of entrance to college and university, and 

 thereby uplifting the whole of higher education to a 

 worthier plane. The foundation is making good the 

 claim of its president that it should be considered not 

 " as a charitv. but an educational agency," which is 

 making for " educational coherence and educational 

 unity," and is taking into account " the interests not 

 alone of a community or of a section, but of a con- 

 tinent." The trustees came to the conclusion that 

 their true task is to consider the merits, not of indi- 

 viduals, but of colleges; to decide upon fair and wise 

 standards, and then te admit to the system of retiring 

 allowances such institutions as comply with the 

 standards, and come within the provisions of the 

 charter. To accomplish this, it was necessary to col- 

 lect facts concerning the various institutions, such as 

 " their method of government, their denominational 

 relations, their value as centres of moral and intellec- 

 tual influence, their financial resources, and, most 

 important of all, their academic standards of work." 



it was found that there are more than 950 institu- 

 tions in the United States and Canada calling them- 

 selves colleges and universities. Of these some 850 

 are in the United States. An examination of the 

 curricula, the income, and the work of these institu- 

 tions showed that these names had in a large majority 

 of cases been assumed with little regard to the mean- 

 ing of the names, and little consideration of the differ- 

 ence between the work of a high school, a college, 

 and a universitv. The trustees had to recognise that 

 the pioneer stage of education had passed, and that it 

 was necessary to standardise the higher institutions 

 of learning. 



They saw clearlv that the nature of the requirements 

 for admission to a college or university affects funda- 

 mentally the character of that institution. It was 

 essential to enforce a reasonable standard — a standard 

 which could be articulated with the work of the high 

 =.hools, and enforced with care and judgment. The 

 Carnegie Foundation, recognising that entrance re- 

 ouirements form the sole feasible means of securing a 

 fair degree of unitv in an educational system, had to 

 reduce to a common method of expression the various 

 systems in these qjo institutions, and to " define the 

 amount of preparation which a colletje ought to 

 demand of its matriculants." This definition had to 

 rest upon the actual practice, and had to be formulated 

 after a studv of the curricula of the standard high 

 schools. These schools require at least four subjects 

 to be studied dailv five times a week. Counting as a 

 unit a studv pursued in this way for a year, the 

 ordinary high-school course would furnish sixteen such 

 units in four years. The CarneHe Foundation, mak- 

 ing allowance for certain possibilities, considers four- 

 KO. 2066, VOL. So] 



teen such units a fair measure of preparatory work, 

 and fi.xes that number as the standard entrance require- 

 ment for any college which desires recognition. 'Ihis 

 standard demands not only four years of high-school 

 training following upon good preliminary work in the 

 grammar school, but involves a fair distribution of the 

 time among ditferent subjects. Some of the letters 

 published in this report make it evident that this is a 

 standard at present somewhat beyond the reach 01 

 many southern colleges in view of the undevelojied 

 condition of secondary education. But the following 

 extract from the president of a Kentucky university 

 proves the w-isdom of the trustees in setting up a 

 standard which is really satisfactory : — " There is a 

 positive advantage in a standard which will make it 

 necessary for every college president and professor in 

 the .South to become an active missionary for public 

 school development. ... I know of no stimulus so 

 powerful and effective as the maintenance of the 

 standard for all alike by the Carnegie Foundation." 

 Another president writes : — " We need your standard 

 more than we need 3'our recognition." It is evidenl, 

 therefore, that one of the results of the working of this 

 trust will be a great forward movement in secondai y 

 and university education in districts where until recently 

 all higher education was in a very backward condition. 



Another result of the conditions laid down by the 

 Foundation in accordance with Mr. Carnegie's wishes 

 will be the gradual liberation of many colleges from 

 obsolete sectarian limitations. For not only is an 

 educational standard required, but those institutions 

 • dune are recognised in which no denominational or 

 sectarian test is applied in the choice of trustees, 

 officers, or teachers, or in the admission of students. 

 The trustees of an institution applying for recognition 

 must further testify that " no distinctly denomination.al 

 tenets or doctrines are taught to the students." 

 Several of the institutions recently admitted to the 

 accepted list have obtained release from conditions 

 which constituted a sectarian barrier. Powdoin College 

 had to surrender to a theological seminary a sum of 

 fully 10,000/., which it had accepted as an endowment 

 with denominational conditions. The Central Univer- 

 sity of Kentucky, with some difficulty, obtained freedom 

 from sectarian patronage so as to qualify itself for 

 acceptance by this foundation. Doubtless many other 

 colleges will struggle to get rid of their bonds, in order 

 to obtain a place on the coveted list. 



Another desirable result at which the policy of the 

 trustees aims is the raising of the standard of profes- 

 sional education in .America. The " schools of law- 

 and of medicine had, up to recent years, no common 

 standards and no relation to the general system of 

 education." The tendency has been to make these 

 schools of law and of medicine a department of the 

 university. The desire of the trustees is to foster this 

 tendency, and so aid in removing commercialism, rais- 

 ing standards, and giving unity to professional train- 

 ing. The public interest will thus be safeguarded by 

 (he provision of a regular supply of educated men 

 thoroughly trained as physicians or lawyers. Low 

 standards are dangerous to the nation and demoralis- 

 ing to the profession. 



The report before us contains a hint that the trustees 

 hope to promote in the colleges and universities in- 

 creased security of position by obtaining freedom from 

 political as well as sectarian restrictions. 



It is not long since political and denominational 

 influence was rampant in university matters. Even 

 during the last year two State universities suffered 

 severely through political interference with their 

 organisation. If the Carnegie Foundation can help 

 to bring about a complete divorce of educational 

 administration from politics it will have added a bright 

 jewel to its crown. 



