Mr. Howe. And that loans are not the only pieces, if you will look at it as a picture puzzle, that provide a full solution to it. Senator MORSE. I quite agree. I am going on the assumption-as we all have in this subcommittee that we will have needy students who otherwise could not go to college unless we help them. They cannot attend unless they get some financial assistance. It will be in the form of loans or in the form of the work-study programs through opportunity grants, and through outside work. What I want to know is, limiting ourselves now to the loan provision, which is the provision now before us, how many students must we plan to serve on a loan basis if we meet the need? Mr. Howe. This has to be a ball park guess on our part. Mr. Howe. Which includes such factors as the going cost of higher education, the factors like a student's choice of an institution, where if he can get a loan he may go to one institution, and if he cannot get a loan he may go to another institution, thereby affecting the nature or the quality of the education which he may receive in relation to his abilities. If you throw in all of these kinds of considerations I believe that percentage becomes very high. The middle-income people in the United States now find themselves in a very difficult situation to finance the education of their youngsters at some college. Therefore, this figure that I gave you earlier, in the realm of 80 percent, really represents a reasonable figure to look at as we examine the long-range role of loans in providing for college education. Senator MORSE. I am not going to infringe any further on the time of my colleagues. I am going to ask, Commissioner Howe, that you supplement the discussion we have just had on this problem with a memorandum for the record with whatever qualifications you want to put in it, because I know what I will be faced with on the floor of the Senate on this question. I must have such facts as I can secure, to answer and to debate the question. The Senate will want to know the total amount of money that is going to be required to meet the loan needs of the American students who otherwise could not go to college. Senator JAVITS. I ask unanimous consent that written questions may be presented to the Commissioner by members of the subcommittee and that written answers may be made by the Commissioner and inserted in the record.1 Senator MORSE. I have already covered that, but I will grant the request. I covered that in my opening statement this morning. I made it very clear that the administration witnesses would be available at all times to answer questions that the subcommittee wished to present to them, and that will include the form in which the Senator from New York just made his request. Senator JAVITS. I make another unanimous consent request. If the Commissioner finds that 80 percent figure is out of line, so completely as to embarrass us, that he have leave to expunge it and insert 1 The written questions referred to and the answers supplied may be found on pp. 54, 60. another figure. I think otherwise the figure can bedevil us through the whole debate, and no qualification will cover it. Senator MORSE. The Chair rules that after the Commissioner and his staff prepares the memorandums that they may correct the testimony of this morning, if correction is needed, in the light of the final decision reached on this problem.2 The hearing stands in adjournment until 9:30 tomorrow morning. (Whereupon, at 10:40 a.m., the hearing was recessed until 9:30 a.m., Wednesday, July 13, 1966.) 2 The testimony referred to has been reviewed by the Office of Education and the estimates contained therein have been revised, thus obviating the necessity for additional memorandums. HIGHER EDUCATION AMENDMENTS OF 1966 WEDNESDAY, JULY 13, 1966 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON EDUCATION OF THE Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:30 a.m., in room 4200, New Senate Office Building, Senator Wayne Morse (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Senators Morse, Yarborough, Kennedy of New York, Kennedy of Massachusetts, and Javits. Committee staff members present: Charles Lee, professional staff member; and Roy H. Millenson, minority clerk. Senator MORSE. The hearing will come to order. ARGENTINE GUESTS The subcommittee is honored to have in attendance this morning a group of nine students from Argentina who are on an exchange program sponsored by the U.S. State Department. I want to welcome the students to this hearing. May I say to counsel for the subcommittee that they have translator equipment which I assure them they can use without in any way disturbing the hearing so that they will understand what the witnesses are saying. I am happy to welcome these students not only to our hearing, but to our country. Our first witness this morning will be Dr. B. J. Priest, president of the Dallas County Junior College, Dallas, Tex., and president of the American Association of Junior Colleges. Dr. Priest, we are delighted to have you here. I think you are familiar with the procedure of the subcommittee. You may proceed in your own way, either by reading your statement or summarizing your statement, whichever meets with your preference. STATEMENT OF BILL J. PRIEST, PRESIDENT, DALLAS COUNTY JUNIOR COLLEGE DISTRICT, DALLAS, TEX., AND REPRESENTING THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF JUNIOR COLLEGES Mr. PRIEST Thank you, Senator Morse. I believe in the interest of time that I will not read the whole statement, but will take excerpts from it and then, of course, be available if there are any questions. Senator MORSE. The Chair rules that the entire statement will be printed at this point in the record. Mr. PRIEST. Thank you, sir. (The prepared statement of Mr. Priest follows:) PREPARED STATEMENT OF BILL J. PRIEST, PRESIDENT, DALLAS COUNTY JUNIOR COLLEGE DISTRICT, DALLAS, TEX., AND REPRESENTING THE AMERICAN AssoCIATION OF JUNIOR COLLEGES THE ASSOCIATION'S POSITION ON H.R. 14644 AND S. 3047 Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee, I am Bill J. Priest, President of Dallas County Junior College District, Dallas, Texas. I am currently President of the American Association of Junior Colleges and I am here today on behalf of the Association. I am also past President of the California Junior College Association. We appreciate your invitation to appear before this Subcommittee. The American Association of Junior Colleges strongly supports H.R. 14644. We feel, however, that total funds for academic facilities should be increased as soon as possible. Funds presently available are far below the level of need. Further, these funds tend to go for a relatively few projects at a small number of colleges in each state, through a competitive point system. Many colleges, both four-year and two-year, have received little or no assistance from this program and cannot hope to do so until substantially greater funds are available. We also believe that Congress should review the present formula under which 22 per cent of available funds go to public junior colleges. At one time this 22 per cent figure was closer to the proportion of all entering freshmen who attend two-year colleges; today, about one-third of all entering students attend two-year colleges, and this figure is rising rapidly. It will soon be over 50 per cent. Junior colleges have become the shock troops of American higher education, bearing an ever-increasing part of the responsibility for educating both young people and adults. We believe that they need additional federal help in working toward the generally accepted American goal-universal educational opportunity beyond the high school for every qualified person, both adolescent and adult. Let me cite some statistics about the remarkable—almost frightening-growth of the American junior college. There are now about 1,250,000 students enrolled at about 800 junior colleges, of which about 500 are public. The rate of growth is about 200,000 students per year—a growth rate which will mean a doubling to about 2,500,000 junior college students in about five years. In California, with the nation's most developed junior college system, about one person in 34 in the state is a junior college student. If the country as a whole offered the same opportunities as California, there would be 6,500,000 junior college students in the United States by 1975. This gives some idea of the explosive growth of the junior college idea. About 50 new junior colleges are opening each year, and as of June 1966 we have information that about 190 new colleges are in various stages of planning. It appears very likely that there will be about 1,000 junior colleges in 1970, and possibly 1,000 public junior colleges by 1975. Many states, including some of the largest, are developing junior college systems which are close to providing the first two years of college-level education within commuting distance of almost the entire population. California now provides junior college education within commuting distance of 90 per cent of its population. Within a few years, it expects to extend this system to the entire state. Florida now offers junior college education to 80 per cent of its population. This will be increased to 95 per cent or more when the present authorized system of colleges is developed. Illinois: only four of the 102 Illinois counties are not covered at present by an existing junior college district, or included in proposals for districts. Nineteen institutions are now in various stages of establishment. New York: 85 per cent of the population resides within commuting distance of a public junior college, and more colleges are being planned. Eight are now in process. Michigan: There are 24 community junior colleges established, or about to be established. Ten more are in the process of being established. |