21 Universities to Test Foreign Admission Plan

Harvard, along with 20 other American colleges, will participate in a plan for cooperation between educators here and abroad in the selection and admission of foreign students, according to David D. Henry '41, Director of Admissions, and secretary of the steering committee for the cooperating colleges.

The plan will be given a one-year test during the academic year 1960-61 with students from Nigeria, Henry announced.

Under the terms of the plan, Harvard will contribute approximately $4,000 to a total fund of nearly $50,000. The Nigerian students will receive full room, board and tuition from the American universities, but transportation will be paid by the Nigerian government.

According to Henry the new plan will solve general difficult problems in the admission of foreign students. Since there will be a board composed both of Africans and Americans interviewing the applicants in their own country, the admissions officers will have more accurate information on the financial background, intellectual and personal qualifications of the students than is now possible.

Students will apply to the West African Office of the African-American Institute in Accra rather than directly to the college of their choice. However, Henry pointed out, the plan does not prevent a student from applying directly to an American college without going through the new machinery.

The bi-national board of educators will interview the applicants in May with the aid of admissions officers from two of the participating colleges. In June the officers of the colleges will hold a meeting in this country to determine which students will finally be selected and what colleges they will attend.

Henry said that if colleges in this country can agree on certain procedures in the admission of foreign students, the program might be expanded to include more colleges and more countries. "Colleges will be more willing to offer financial aid if they are confident about the students' qualifications," he concluded.