Conant Calls for College Appraisal

President Conant called for a re-examination and radical change in the roles of four-year colleges in our present educational system in a speech at Tufts College Saturday.

Speaking before the 100th anniversary celebration of Tufts College, President Conant said, "I hope that four-year universities will feel they should be concerned with the development of the intellectual capacity of a relatively small percentage of the population.

"They should be the next to last step in the training of professional men and women (doctors, lawyers, scientists, etc.)," he continued.

American Uniqueness

"They should leave to two-year institutions the education of those not interested in professional training or not able to pursue such training," he said.

Comparing U.S. colleges with those of Britain, President Conant stressed the uniqueness of the American institutions.

"The British system is like a narrow cylinder; they pick their students young and keep training them--and lose few of them in the process.

"American education is like a giant funnel--we have many colleges, and many students, but 50 per cent of our college students drop out before they are graduated.

Wasteful and Luxurious?

"To our British friends, this is a wasteful and luxurious system that only the richest country in the world can afford. I suggest it needs a tightening up.

"Americans who send their children to college are interested in broadening their understanding as citizens and training them by the development of their talents for special pursuits.

"The problem of the next 50 years," Conant concluded, "is to develop a system of education in which these two principles may be more effectively combined."