AMERICAN HIGHER EDUCATION

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27685, 15 June 1955, Page 2

AMERICAN HIGHER EDUCATION

Address By Dr. P. Burnham TYPES OF INSTITUTIONS DESCRIBED An address on some aspects of higher education in the United States was given to members of the Christchuren branch of the English-Speaking Union last evening by Dr. Pau] Burnham, a Fulbright professor who is spending some months in Christen ur ch. The meeting, held at Elizabeth House, was well attended. The president (Mrs Henry Wyatt) presided and welcomed Dr. and Mrs Burnham. Dr. Burnham, a processor at Yale University, is largely responsible for the selection of students for Yale, and carries out a certain amount of vocational guidance at the university.

Dr_ Burnham said that perhaps his point of view on higher education in America was limited, as he had been for many years associated with Yale University, but he dealt with his subjects from many angles. Speaking of the variety of types of institutions tor higher education, Dr. Burnham said that there were in the United States 1300 institutions that provided a fouryear programme beyond secondary school ‘level. These colleges conferred bachelors’ degrees. Then, he said, there were 500 junior colleges, which might be of a pattern not familiar to New Zealanders. They provided a two-year course after four years’ study at secondary schools, and conferred diplomas or certificates. At one time little was heard academically of students after they left the junior colleges, but recently there had been a growing tendency, especially in California. for students from junior colleges to go to universities later.

The institutions with four-year courses had about 2,000,000 students, and the junior colleges about 250,000, said Dr. Burnham. The liberal arts colleges numbered about 700, and there were also about 200 teachers’ colleges, many technical colleges, and more than 100 theological schools.

Yale University in New Haven, about 75 miles from New York, had been founded 250 years ago, and was one of the oldest universities in the United States, he said. By American standards, it was not a large institution. its student population being about 7500. The faculty comprised about 1700 persons, and there were about 3500 non-faculty employees. It was a private university, and it cost about £6OO a year to keep a student in residence there. Financial Aid to Students About 95 per cent, of the students in their first years were in residence, and in the last two years of their course about 98 per cent, were in residence, said Dr. Burnham. There were bursaries that enabled students to study at the university if their parents were not in a position to pay for them. For these, work was found in the university—not waiting on table or helping in the kitchen, as in earlier days, but working in the library, in the research department, or in the laboratories, generally in the department to which their studies were most nearly allied. In this way, the students paid for their board. Money grants were also made to these students if they were deserving, and they generally set the standard of attainment in the university. About 25 to 30 per cent, of the students at Yale were in this group.

The desire for higher education in the United States, Dr. Bumham said, was so great that the number applying for admission to the universities far exceeded the number that could be admitted. For instance, at Yale, there were about 1000 vacancies each year, and the applications exceeded 4000. In the medical school there would be as many as 1500 applicants for 75 places. The selection of candidates to be admitted was a complicated and time-consuming business. It was trying for the applicants, who sometimes applied to be admitted to five or six colleges in the hope of being selected for one.

If a man wanted to study medicine he might apply for admission to 12 different schools, he said.

• Dr. Burnham outlined the programme of recreational and sporting activities enjoyed by residential students at Yale; including the lectures, forums, discussion groups and seminars that contributed much to the educational as well as the recreational side of student life.

The publicly-supported institutions. Dr. Burnham said, were in a favoured position financially, as they received grants from the State legislatures. Private universities were feeling the pinch. At Yale, for instance, the operating costs were 20,000.000 dollars a year. Of this sum, 8,000,000 dollars came from investments, 8,000,000 from students’ fees, and for the remaining 4.000.000 the college was largely and increasingly dependent on its alumni, who were now contributtnggenerously.