STATEMENT OF THE REVEREND EVARETT A. HEWLETT, VICE I am pleased to be speaking in behalf of Mr. Irving B. Yochelson, Chairman of the Legislation Committee of the Board of Education, in support of legislation designed to establish a public community and Vocational-technical college and a public college of arts and sciences in the District of Columbia. I testified in support of similar legislation before the Senate. I am delighted to support H.R. 16958, which was introduced by Representative Ancher Nelsen, which includes provisions for vocational and technical education under the direction of the community college. Provision for vocational and technical education in the college bill is without doubt a highly positive contribution to the needs of the city. It will provide upgraded educational opportunities for the citizens of the area and will meet a recognized need for an increased number of technicians in all categories. The Board of Education for several years has made expressions of its awareness of the need for public higher education. The Board of Education considers public higher education an essential goal and an indispensable adjunct of a good elementary and secondary school program. Dating back to the Strayer Report of 1949, the need for public higher education in Washington has been documented by innumerable studies of experts in education and government. The Board of Education has long been aware of the unfilled needs of the community for post-secondary school education at public expense and has cooperated willingly with those who have been interested in obtaining objective evidence to support the conclusions of this committee. May I report to you at this time the results of a recent survey (January-February, 1966) of the college intentions of seniors in the public high schools of the District of Columbia. This survey was conducted by the Superintendent of Schools and his staff. The responses of these senior give convincing evidence of the need for each of the two colleges now. Of the 3,891 seniors who responded, 2,540 plan to continue their education in a college or university next year, another 771 are undecided, and 580 do not plan to continue their education beyond the secondary school level. If the public community college and the public four-year college of arts and sciences are established, 2,586 of the seniors indicated that they would be interested in attending one of these institutions. A total of 1,711 indicated that they would apply for admissions to one of the institutions if they were unable to attend the college or university of their choice next year. Approximately 55 per cent indicated an interest in curriculums that would be offered in the four-year college and the other 45 per cent are interested in curriculums leading to the associate in arts degree. In reply to the question on the payment of tuition, 1,204 of the students indicated that they would be unable to pay tuition in the amount of $525.00, the lowest tuition rate in the District. Tuition in the privately controlled colleges and universities in the District of Columbia ranges from $525.00 to $1400.00 per year for full-time undergraduate students. The result of this survey and of an earlier one conducted in 1962 indicates that hundreds of students would be interested in attending of public community college, if one were available. The President's committee predicted an annual entering class of about 1,400 students during the early years of the community college. Experience in other communities would indicate that this estimate of possible enrollment is a conservative one and that the number of students enrolled will grow steadily if curriculums in which the students are interested are available. The Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, Ohio, for example, opened for instruction in September, 1963. The initial enrollment of this community college exceeded 3,000 students and the enrollment of this institution has more than tripled in two years. This year, more than 10,000 students attend classes in this community college located in a large metropolitan area. Plans are now being completed to accommodate more than 15,000 students by the fall of 1968. In September, 1965, there were 771 community or junior colleges in the United States. Of this total, 503 were public colleges and 268 were independent or church-related institutions. The enrollment in these colleges for the fall of 1965 was 1,292,753, establishing a record yearly increase in enrollment was due to the opening of 50 new institutions, but the densely populated states of California, Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania accounted for an increase in junior college population of more than 100,000 Students. This present high rate of growth in numbers of institutions and in enrollments is expected by the American Association of Junior Colleges to continue for the foreseeable future. At least 20 or 40 new institutions are expected to open in September, 1966. for The need for such an institution in the District of Columbia is selfevident. The public high schools (academic and vocational) in the District of Columbia graduate between 4,000 and 5,000 students each year and private and parochial schools grduate hundreds of others. Publicly supported higher education is denied to all of these young people except the small minority of graduates who wish to prepare careers in teaching and who meet the entrance requirements of the Teachers College. The existence of several private institutions of higher education in the area does not meet the need. The new Oakland Community College in Michigan, for example, enrolled 3,284 students in an area that is well-laced with four-year colleges and universities. Lake Community College in Eugene, Oregon, opened with 2,891 students. The two new junior colleges in Maricopa County, Arizona, enrolled 2,000 and 1,369 students. The other junior college in the county in Phoenix has over 16,000 students. California has over 80 junior colleges, New York has 67, Pennsylvania has 43, and Michigan has 23. In Texas, 61,938 students are enrolled in 47 institutions and Florida's 27 junior colleges boast of an enrollment of 61,667. All of these states are plentifully supplied with four-year colleges and universities, both private and public. A public community college located close to the students' homes will make access to higher education readily available and relatively inexpensive. The proposed college would recognize the value of the liberal arts and other general education courses in the overall educational development of young people. The general education curriculum of the college would provide courses in English, history, mathematics, science, psychology, economics, and the fine arts for those who choose to major in one of the business or technical education curriculums. The President's committee also attempted to obtain reliable data on the need for a four-year college of arts and sciences in terms of the number of District high school graduates who have the ability but lack the opportunity to attend such an institution. The members of this committee, after a careful analysis of existing studies on this subject and of their own studies, concluded that the college of arts. and sciences could be expected even at the outset to meet the need and desire for higher education of at least 600 District secondary school graduates each year who are college-able but who can afford to continue in school only in a publicly supported institution. There are other factors which in the judgment of the committee would further increase the enrollment in a college of this type. The study just completed by the Superintendent and his staff tends to support the findings of the President's committee. We must agree with the committee that denials of opportunity for a college education for this. large number of the youth of the District of Columbia must not be. allowed to continue. The committee stated that the establishment of a college of arts and sciences in the District of Columbia under public control would be in response to two urgent needs. First, the District should have a completely new physical and educational setting for the vital function of teacher education. And second, the young people of the District should have the opportunity now enjoyed by the young people of all of the states to attend a publicly supported institution offering a liberal arts education at least through the baccalaureate degree. Each of the 50 states provides for its youth and adults at least one public institution of higher education of broad character and most of them have several such colleges or universities along with many privately supported institutions. The eleven smallest states, each with a population smaller than that of the District of Columbia provide an average of three public colleges which grant the bachelor's and in most cases graduate degrees. The District of Columbia with the highest per capita income of any of the states has only one college under public control, and this college is limited to teacher education. It is very obvious that the young of the District do not have an equal opportunity for higher education enjoyed by those in the various states when it comes to the availability of publicly supported colleges and universities. Many capable and deserving youth in the District of Columbia are denied the opportunity for the fullest development of their intellectual capacities because of conditions beyond their immediate control. Tuition charges in local institutions, except Howard University, are beyond the means of a large number of high school graduates. Mr. DowDY. May I interrupt a minute? Reverend HEWLETT. Yes, sir. Mr. DOWDY. What is the tuition at Howard? Dr. HANSEN. I may be able to supply that information with the hope that I may correct the transcript if I am wrong. I think it is $500. Reverend HEWLETT. Thank you, Dr. Hansen. The President's Committee reported that 1,837 of the graduates of the public high schools entered local universities from 1960-1963 and that 63 per cent of the number went to Howard where tuition charges are lower. It is of interest to note that in the state universities and land grant colleges the out-of-state tuition this year is up 19.9 per cent from a median of $612 to $734. Median room costs rose 5.1 per cent and median board costs rose 2.3 per cent. Last year only nine state insti tutions charged non-residents $900 or more, and of these only four charged more than $1,000. This year there are 20 state institutions with out-of-state tuition exceeding $900 and seven of these now charge more than $1,000. Out-of-state tuition was raised this year at 59 institutions. The trend in cost of higher education in publicly supported institutions is upward. Private institutions have been forced to increase tuition and fee charges during the past several years in greater amounts than have the public colleges. For many students these charges are prohibitive. It is evident that the increased costs of attending state and private institutions are and will continue to be a problem for high school graduates in the District of Columbia who may desire to attend these institutions. Both the increased costs and the problem of obtaining admission to out-of-state institutions that are becoming more and more overcrowded have a direct bearing on the need for the District to face up to its responsibilities in the education of its own residents. Mr. Dowdy. May I interrupt there again? You mentioned tuition for out-of-state students going up but tuition for resident students has also been increased in these states, has it not? Reverend HEWLETT. Yes, I would think this is generally true. Mr. DOWDY. I think it is. I know that it is true in Texas. You may proceed. Reverend HEWLETT. Thank you. The Honorable Congressman Carlton Sickles recently told a group of educators: Last year 100,000 extremely able high school graduates failed to go to college largely because of financial reasons. The per capita expenditure of higher education in the District of Columbia is $1.22 (exclusive of the two laboratory schools, the cost of which should logically be charged against elementary education) compared with $21.23 spend in Maryland and $19.40 in Virginia. The average national per capita expenditure is $28.87. All the states are and have been for years spending considerable sums in capital outlays to expend higher education. Our present college buildings (formerly Miner and Wilson Teachers Colleges) were built more than 35 years ago. Since that time the District has not spent a penny on capital outlay except the normal maintenance expenses on these two buildings. In comparison, during 19631964 Virginia and Maryland spent more than $20,000,000 and $16,000,000 respectively. Our present plight does not allow us to make application for funds from 230 million to 460 million for undergraduate facilities this year. P? AUTHORIZING PUBLIC COMMUNITY COLLEGE 29 The annual operating cost of the college is estimated to be $3,000,000 for the first year, increasing some each year until it reaches a maximum of $4,500,000 by the opening of the fourth or fifth year. This will cover both day and evening undergraduate and graduate programs. In my testimony today I have attempted to emphasize the evidence which has convinced the Members of the Board of Education that the conclusions of the President's Committee on Higher Education in the. District of Columbia are inescapable. The need for the establishment of a public community college and a public four-year college of arts and sciences is urgent. I shall leave it to others to testify about the types of curriculums and programs of study that should be provided in these colleges. The plea of the Board of Education is that you act and act immediately to provide for the establishment of these two colleges and provide the youth of the District of Columbia with the same opportunities for post-secondary school education that have been provided for the youth of the fifty states of the United States of America for many years. Although you know the need is great in the District of Columbia for public higher education, I cannot refrain from attempting to share with you the profound concern of the Board of Education for immediate legislation that would give to the youth of this city their birthright-public higher education. That concludes my statement, sir. Thank you very much. Mrs. Stults, I believe you have a statement? STATEMENT OF MRS. ANN HAYNES STULTS, MEMBER OF THE Mrs. STULTS. Mr. Dowdy, I am pleased to have this opportunity to testify in support of H.R. 16958 which authorizes the establishment of a board of higher education, with the power to establish a two-year community college offering technical and vocational education courses and a four-year liberal arts college. I have worked many years in support of this legislation and have had the opportunity to discuss with several Members of Congress the urgency of the need for this authorization. It is especially encouraging that the House District Committee has elected to call this hearing this morning in an effort to move the legislation to a satisfactory conclusion. I do not, with my testimony, wish to review statistics justifying such institutions of higher learning as are proposed in the bill. The justifications have been amply presented by other witnesses representing the Board of Education. I want merely to make the following points: 1. The only public institution of higher learning in Washington is the District of Columbia Teachers College and it cannot survive under its present limitations. It was evaluated in 1961 with a strong admonition that improvements in the structure and the conditions of the program must be effected by the time the college is again evaluated in 1971. Time is running out. The College cannot endure as a pub 68-614-66- -3 |