Scrambled Scholarships

With the advent of the Harvard National Scholarships, the scholarship stipend, once merely the difference between resources and expenses, became a bid for talent as college administrators started competing for future "Who's Who" candidates. Financial need became secondary during an abusive competition for future success. Like middle aged ladies at an auction, the schools matched bid against bid for promising prizes. Highly sought high school seniors could almost sit back and take their choice of the bids, while needier classmates, also college material, had all too often to be content with an acceptance but no stipend from a college which had already exhausted its funds.

Within the past few weeks it appears that the free ride is over. Following the suggestion of Harvard's John Monro, eastern colleges have agitated for a central scholarship clearing house, where a paid College Board staff will objectively appraise financial need of applicants, and then determine a joint stipend for the colleges to sue in awarding grants.

If the College Boards pass the Monro proposal, the scholarship will return to its prime purpose. Designed to fill the gap between the student's available funds and his expenses, the stipend will no longer be used as lure, often forcing a man to make a decision based on financial preference alone. And the colleges, in awarding more scholarship to more students will benefit by using what has now become wasted money. Monro's clearing house will stop the scrambling and ensure that the successful applicant will always get enough, but never more than enough.