3,000 new professionals each year, and even at that, 50 percent of these schools are unable to meet minimum accreditation standards for lack of operating funds. Thus, these schools, which must somehow supply a vastly greater number of trained librarians, are still functioning at a level far below the immediate need. The price for this lack of training facilities is paid ultimately by the Nation's schoolchildren. In the public schools, the ratio of qualified librarians to pupils is 1 to 1,254; the accepted national standard is 1 trained librarian to 300 pupils. In 1962-63, only 30,000 school librarians were employed in our public elementary and secondary schools. Of these, 22 percent had completed fewer than 15 semester hours of college work in library science. In 84 percent of our elementary schools, there are no school librarians at all, and professional librarians are lacking in one-third of the State departments of education. Proposal Title II proposes a 5-year program to help institutions of higher education acquire library materials needed for their expanded responsibilities in research, teaching, and student use; to encourage new and enlarged college and university training programs to prepare individuals for service in the information sciences and in libraries; and to promote research and demonstration projects relating to the improvement of libraries and the library and information sciences. The proposal is divided into two parts. The first would authorize the Commissioner of Education to make grants to colleges or combinations of colleges for the purchase of books, periodicals, documents, magnetic tapes, phonograph records, audiovisual materials, and other related library materials. Institutions submitting appropriate applications would receive a basic grant of up to $5,000. The Commissioner would also be authorized to make supplemental grants, not to exceed $10 for each full-time student. Supplemental grants would be made on the basis of such criteria as size and age of the library collection, student enrollment, and endowment and other financial resources. Only the basic grant would be matched by the institution. Each institution or combination of institutions would provide assurances that their previous year's expenditures for materials would be maintained. Twenty-five percent of the funds appropriated for this part would be used by the Commissioner to make special grants. These special grants might be made, for example, to institutions of higher education which demonstrate a special need for additional library resources; or to institutions which engage in meeting special national or regional needs in the library and information sciences; or to combinations of institutions which need special assistance in establishing joint facilites. An Advsory Council on College Library Resources would be established to assist the Commissioner in the development of criteria for making of supplemental grants and special purpose grants. First-year authorization for this part would be $50 million. The second part authorizes the Commissioner to make grants to institutions of higher education for training students in librarianship, including the training of communications specialists in the biomedical, physical, and social sciences. The Commissioner would also be author ized to make grants to and contracts with institutions of higher education and other public or private agencies, institutions, and organizations; and with individuals for research and demonstration projects and for the dissemination of information derived from this research and demonstration. However, no grant could be made to a private group other than a nonprofit one. The Comimssioner would appoint panels of experts to evaluate various types of research and demonstration projects. First-year authorization for this part would be $15 million. TITLE III-STRENGTHENING DEVELOPING INSTITUTIONS Background Enrollments in institutions of higher education doubled in the 10year period from 1954 to 1964 (2.4 million to 4.8) and are expected to go up at least another 50 percent in the next decade. During that same period, enrollments in junior colleges increased 211⁄2 times. The postwar years have, to be sure, brought a substantial increase in the number of American institutions of higher education-from 1,686 in 1946 to more than 2,100 in the fall of 1964. The pace at which these institutions are increasing, however, lags far behind the rate at which students are seeking to enter. Moreover, many of our institutions of higher learning urgently need strengthening. Almost 10 percent of the colleges which grant baccal aureate or higher degrees are still unaccredated by appropriate regional or professional associations. Several hundred others lack essential research apparatus and teaching personnel. As recently as the 1961-62 academic year, one-fourth of the faculty members in our public liberal arts undergraduate colleges were paid $6,000 or less, and one-fourth of the faculty members in our private liberal arts undergraduate colleges were paid $5,870 or less. Many of our developing institutions of higher education are striving for higher standards of quality but are short of the means to achieve them. They could be appreciably assisted in praising their standards through academic relationships with larger and stronger institutions. Such relationships will better enable the colleges to share fully and equally in the responsibilities ahead. Proposal Title III proposes a 5-year program to assist in raising the academic quality of colleges which have the desire and potential to make a substantial contribution to the higher education resources of our Nation but which for financial and other reasons are struggling for survival and are isolated from the main currents of academic life. The Commissioner would be authorized to pay part of the cost of planning and carrying out cooperative arrangements for strengthening the academic programs of qualified developing colleges. These cooperative arrangements might be between developing institutions, between developing institutions and other colleges, and between developing institutions and organizations, agencies, and business entities. The cooperative projects might include: Exchange of faculty or students, including visting scholars; faculty improvement programs; introduction of new curriculums; development of cooperative educa tion programs involving alternate periods of academic study and employment; joint use of facilities such as libraries or laboratories; and other arrangements which offer promise of strengthening the academic programs of developing colleges. The Commissioner would also be authorized to award national teaching fellowships to graduate students and junior faculty members to encourage them to teach at developing institutions. An Advisory Council on Developing Institutions would assist the Commissioner in identifying qualified developing institutions and in establishing priorities for use in approving applications for grants. First year authorization would be $30 million. TITLE IV-STUDENT ASSISTANCE A-Undergraduate scholarships C-College work-study program extension and amendments Since the end of World War II, the percentage of all 18-to-21-yearolds who enroll in college has risen from 22 to 40 percent. Twice as many young people are enrolled in colleges and universities this year as were enrolled 10 years ago. If projections prove correct, the present figure of 4.8 million students will rise to 6.9 million by 1970. There have been three main aspects of this upsurge in higher education enrollments: more students compete for the scholarship and loan assistance available at each college, more students compete for the part-time jobs available on or near each campus, and more students are being drawn from middle- and low-income families. It is in the national interest that more of the country's young people have the opportunity to acquire better training and education. In a practical sense, opportunity comes in three forms: Scholarships, loans, and work-study programs. The present average cost for attending a public college or university for 1 year is $1,560 and for attending a private institution, $2,370. This is up from the $1,190 and $1,700 respectively in 1954-55. It is currently estimated that by 1970 the cost of attending a public institution for 1 year will reach $1,840 and for attending a private institution, $2,780. Sums of this magnitude inevitably discourage many worthy young men and women of low-income families from pursuing their education after high school. In 1960, there were 1.079,000 high school graduates who did not go on to college. Forty-two percent indicated that finances played a role in their decision not to go; of these, nearly half flatly said they could not afford to consider college at all. Thus, some 217,000 high school graduates who would have liked to have continued their education were prevented from doing so by financial inability. Of the number of young people who did go on to higher education, 22 percent dropped out by the end of the first year. Of these, 28 percent gave lack of money as the prime reason for dropping out. These statistics are chiefly an expression of the plight of low-income families and their children. The relationship between family income and college attendance is clear: in 1960, for example, 78 percent of all high school graduates whose families had incomes of $12,000 or more per year went on to college. By contrast, only 33 percent of students in the $3,000-or-less family income bracket went on to higher education. The problem of financing higher education is not limited to lowincome families. Families of average income trying to provide a college education for their children also face a serious situation. The most serious difficulty occurs for such middle-income families when there are two or more children attending college at one time. Upon the enrollment of the oldest child as a college freshman, the family commits a large part of its resources to education for an extended period of time. When the second child arrives as a college freshman, expenditures double, and the family must meet costs of $5,000 or more a school year. Students from middle-income families often find it difficult to obtain financial relief. The family's income may be too high for them to qualify for many scholarship or loan programs; but insufficient to carry the full burden of support for children in college. In addition, interest rates on loans are often too high to permit middle-income families to make long-term commitments. That the pinch is already being felt can be seen in the fact that three out of every four families now taking part in some kind of federally supported student loan program have brothers and sisters of college age. Existing loan programs are under strong pressures with more than 600,000 students having borrowed approximately $453 million from the national defense student loan funds set up in 1,574 colleges and universities. Before the enactment of this program in 1958, most institutions of higher education had never made a student loan; not more than 100 institutions had loan programs and totaled more than a few thousands of dollars annually. Today, rising numbers of students are asking for the aid of this program to help them stay in school; in addition, new colleges are being created, 500 new institutions in the past 18 years, and each one is a potential subscriber to the NDSL program, requiring the Federal contribution. The 88th Congress, recognizing the increasing pressures on these federally supported student loan funds, authorized $163.3 million for the current fiscal year, $179.3 million for fiscal 1966, $190 million for fiscal 1967, and $195 million for fiscal 1968. The third method of assisting needy students in colleges and universities is by making available to them part-time employment. College-paid undergraduate employment now totals about $145 million a year and provides 425,000 students with average earnings of $350 a year each. The work-study program of the Economic Opportunities Act of 1964 is underway with present grants to institutions totaling $71 million annually; but there is also much evidence that this is insufficient support to meet the demands of work needed by students, particularly those students from families of low income. Proposal Title IV proposes a 5-year program of student financial aids to make the benefits of higher education available to academically qualified students in need of financial assistance. The title provides four types of assistance: (1) Undergraduate scholarships to qualified high school graduates from low-income families; (2) insured reduced-inter est private loans to both undergraduate and graduate students through approved commercial lenders and certain State and nonprofit private programs; (3) an expanded work-study program to provide part-time employment; and (4) extension and expansion of the national defense student loan program. A-Undergraduate Scholarships The undergraduate scholarship program would provide grants of up to $800 per academic year for qualified high school graduates from low-income families. A student may receive the scholarship on an annual basis for a period of up to 4 years while pursuing a full-time undergraduate course of study at an eligible institution of higher education. It is not intended that this scholarship would be the sole financial support of the recipient. Loans under the National Defense Education Act and work-study opportunities could be combined in such a manner as to provide appropriate financial assistance-dependent upon the need and capabilities of each student. In order for the student to qualify for the scholarship, he must be under 21; must be from a low-income family; must be capable of maintaining good standing at an institution of higher education; must have been accepted as a full-time student; and must have made application demonstrating his need for financial assistance. The selection of recipients would be made by the institution in which the student was enrolled. Preference would be given to students entering upon their freshman year and to students entering 4-year schools after having been graduated from 2-year institutions of higher education. In determining whether a student is from a low-income family or not, the institution would make an appropriate review of the student's entire financial status. The amount of a scholarship would be determined by the institution on the basis of criteria or schedules provided by the Commissioner of Education. The scholarship could not exceed $800, nor could it exceed the cost of the student's education. Student scholarships would be provided through institutions of higher education which have made agreements with the Commissioner. Institutions eligible would be those which have in operation agreements for loans under the National Defense Education Act and for employment under the college work-study program. The Commissioner of Education would make an agreement with an institution of higher learning requiring the institution to make vigorous efforts to identify qualified youths from low-income groups and encourage them to continue their education beyond secondary school. Colleges would establish close working relationships with secondary schools and could make tentative commitments of scholarships to qualified students enrolled in grade 11 or lower and to secondary school dropouts. Up to 5 percent of the funds received could be spent by the institutions for the administrative costs involved in this identification and encouragement program. An institution would also be required to maintain its efforts in its own scholarship and loan program. |