848 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVII. No. 962 



decreed that for a medical college to be put 

 in the highest rank, the requirement of one 

 year of college work, including instruction 

 in chemistry, physics and biology, is neces- 

 sary. This has focused attention on this 

 proposition and many colleges will feel 

 compelled to require it. 



In discussing this proposition, the first 

 question that arises is: How is the student 

 to obtain this year's work in the designated 

 sciences ? 



In states with state colleges or universi- 

 ties, the question has been answered. The 

 high school and university courses are so 

 correlated that with a minimum amount of 

 disturbance the student passes from one to 

 the other. The financial aspect is not a 

 burdensome one, as the fees in the state- 

 supported institutions are relatively small. 

 But in the greater part of the country no 

 such coordination exists, the colleges and 

 universities are disassociated from the high 

 schools, so that there is a greater or less 

 impediment to students passing from the 

 high school to the colleges, as they are not 

 accepted on their high-school credentials. 

 In some, the students are admitted only on 

 examination in addition to their creden- 

 tials, and others demand special prepara- 

 tion in subjects not included in the high- 

 school course. Universities and colleges 

 should feel it their duty to correlate their 

 entrance requirements with the high-school 

 courses of their locality. 



In this connection another obstacle is met 

 with in localities where the universities and 

 colleges are not part of the general educa- 

 tional system, i. e., the attitude of these in- 

 stitutions toward one- or two-year students 

 who are taking the course to meet the med- 

 ical school requirements. It does not, how- 

 ever, apply to universities with medical 

 schools. The universities frankly admit 

 that they do not want these students, and 

 when we discuss the requirements as re- 



lated to sciences and languages with them, 

 they say: "Why should we modify our 

 curriculum to meet the needs of these one- 

 or two-year students? We are not con- 

 ducting this college as a preparatory school 

 for technical or professional education." 

 And the head of one of the largest univer- 

 sities in the east with no professional school 

 attached, said: "If I find men coming here 

 to meet this requirement, I will change the 

 course so that they can not get the science 

 branches demanded in less than three 

 years. ' ' 



To meet this requirement, must the 

 course be taken only in an institution hav- 

 ing the right to grant the B.A. or B.S. 

 degree? Should the requirement read: 

 "One year's work of college standard, 

 which year must include instruction in 

 chemistry, physics and biology. This year 

 must be in addition to the high-school 

 course"? 



This raises at once the most important 

 question of equivalents and all the dan- 

 gers of evasion. It has been suggested that 

 these courses might be given in technical 

 high schools which only admit students 

 after the completion of a high-school 

 course, and in support of the suggestion, it 

 has been claimed that such a course would 

 be much more definite than that given in 

 many literary colleges, and it would be 

 under the supervision of the educational 

 department of the state. Many deny the 

 right of high schools to do the work of the 

 colleges, and, in addition, urge that it is 

 not meeting the spirit of the requirement. 



This raises the next question. What is 

 the object of this added year of prepara- 

 tion? 



In general terms, the answer is : " Power 

 to grasp professional subjects." 



Is this power gained best by increase in 

 general education in the so-called "human- 

 istic" or "culture" courses, or by tech- 



