Conant Opposes 'Wholesale' Nat'l Scholarship Program

President Conant in an interview yesterday indicated that he opposed "wholesale" Federal aid to college students.

Conant's statement followed an announcement Monday that Federal Security Administrator Oscar R. Ewing is presently working on a bill which would ask a $30,000,000 appropriation for scholar ships to high school seniors.

Representative Foster Furcolo (D-Mass.), who has introduced several unsuccessful measures for federal aid, was highly pessimistic about the bill's chances in Congress.

Under Furcolo's most recent bill, which is basically the name as the Ewing proposal, the government would give $800 Scholarships for students "scholastically qualified and financially needy." Under both proposals, the state would select scholarship students.

Emphasizing, that he favors expansion of scholarship awards. Conant stated that the Ewing bill "would do things too fast."

Alternatives

While in opposition to a total or "wholesale national scholarship program." Conant offered two alternate proposals. One would be the two-year college which he thought would require far less outlay of scholarship money than necessary for four year colleges.

He second proposal would be for scholarships such as those given by the National Science Foundation. But Representative Percy Priest (D-Tenn.) in a telephone conversation last night pointed out that the Foundation does not have funds enough except for a "very limited number."

Priest said that the Appropriations Committee recently cut the Foundation's appropriation from $14,000,000 to $3,000,000.

The Foundation was established by Congress in 1948 to award scholarship aid to students entering graduate work. Priest noted last night that Conant supported the Foundation Scholarship plan in testimony before the committee in 1948.

Both Furcolo and Priest agreed that hope is dim at best for either a federal scholarship program or increased allotment to the National Science Foundation.