COLLEGE ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS 287 



.of the group of young people who come to their doors. The recognition 

 of the mechanic arts, household science and agriculture, together with 

 the attempt to reflect the major industries of the community, have 

 brought the vocational idea in conflict with the traditional one of cul- 

 ture. A middle ground seems to be the saner position to take, since it 

 is possible, and ought to be possible, for young people to secure a blend- 

 ing of liberal and vocational training at the same time, and through this 

 combination education can receive the proper emphasis upon its social 

 significance. The combination of the two makes possible a closer re- 

 lationship of the work which the boy is doing to the welfare of society. 

 Consequently, it appears to many educators that the requirement of 

 four years of work in any particular subject as a condition of admission 

 to the college or university is illogical and unhappy as a part of the 

 educational machinery. Yet, on the other hand, it is distinctly under- 

 stood that the attempt on the part of the high school to reach out and 

 enrich its curriculum does not, and must not, mean the teaching of too 

 many subjects to the same students at the same time. 



The report of the Committee on the Articulation of High Schools 

 and Colleges to the Secondary Department of the National Education 

 Association in 1911 presented not only the various considerations that 

 may be advanced regarding the function and field of education in the 

 high school, but endeavored to define the meaning of a well-planned 

 high-school course, and why it should be adopted as the basis of college 

 admission. It is accepted without argument that fifteen units should 

 be required for admission to the college or university, and that the 

 specific subjects that should be offered may be summarized as three 

 units of English, two units of one foreign language, two units of mathe- 

 matics, one unit of social science (including history), and one unit of 

 natural science. This makes nine units, and to these should be added 

 two more units, so as to enlarge the requirements to at least two majors 

 of three units each, leaving four units to be used as best meets the needs 

 of the individual. 



The suggestions of the committee have been more than accepted by 

 the action of the University of Chicago in the new entrance require- 

 ments adopted by the faculties of that institution. 2 Accepting as fun- 

 damental the requirement of fifteen units, the University of Chicago 

 requirements place the first emphasis upon English and the demand 

 for three units of that subject. The departure from the idea of the 

 committee, and for that matter from the general plan adopted by most 

 universities of the country, is in the option granted to the student in 

 the choice of subjects for the remaining units. Seven units must be 

 selected from five groups in the proportion of three in one and two in 



* ' ' Changes in Entrance Bequirements at the University of Chicago, ' ' by 

 ■C. E. Mann, Educational Review, September, 1911. 



