Mrs. GREEN. Well, we do appreciate your coming here today, and you certainly have been most patient to wait until almost 5 o'clock to give your testimony. I agree with your basic premise that we are neglecting the most gifted and that they must be our potential leaders, and that we certainly need to give as much attention at least to that upper 2 or 3 percent as we do to some of the most handicapped. I wish that time would allow us to talk further about this. (Discussion off the record.) Mrs. GREEN. Thank you very much. Mr. SHAPIRO. Thank you, Mrs. Green. Mrs. GREEN. The committee will stand adjourned until 10 o'clock Monday morning. (Whereupon, at 4:50 p. m. the committee adjourned, to reconvene at 10 a.m. Monday, March 24, 1958.) SCHOLARSHIP AND LOAN PROGRAM MONDAY, MARCH 24, 1958 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON SPECIAL EDUCATION AND SUBCOMMITTEE ON GENERAL EDUCATION, Washington, D. C. The subcommittees met, pursuant to recess, at 10: 15 a. m., in room 429, Old House Office Building, Hon. Carl Elliott presiding. Present: (Subcommittee on Special Education) Representatives Elliott (chairman) and Nicholson. Present also: Representative Wier. Staff members present: Fred G. Hussey, chief clerk; Melvin Sneed, minority clerk; Charles Ryan, general counsel; and Mary P. Allen, clerk (Subcommittee on Special Education). Mr. ELLIOTT. The subcommittees will be in order. Without objection, I submit for the record at this point, the following: The statement of the gentleman from New Jersey, Mr. Addonizio, in support of a Federal scholarship and loan program; a statement from the gentleman from Massachusetts, the Honorable Edward P. Boland, in support of a Federal scholarships program; a letter addressed to me under date of March 4, from Mr. Peter Sammartino, president of the Fairleigh Dickinson University of Rutherford, N. J., expressing his approval of H. R. 10381; a letter to me from James Creese, president of the Drexel Institute of Technology, Philadelphia, Pa., dated March 13, 1958, suggesting certain amendments to provisions of pending scholarship legislation. (Statement and letters follow:) Hon. CARL ELLIOTT, DREXEL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR REPRESENTATIVE ELLIOTT: I have been advised that the administration bill to provide national scholarships contains the following: "SEC. 125. (a) A scholarship awarded under this title shall be for the period, not in excess of four academic years, required for the recipient to complete the work for his first bachelor's degree." This statement should in my opinion contain some modifying phrase which would recognize the fact that a large number of colleges offer undergraduate courses of a duration of 5 years. In particular, these colleges which make use of what is known as the Cooperative Plan of Education commonly prescribe a 5-year course for the undergraduate, bachelor's degree. The cooperative plan of education is used to some extent in approximately 50 colleges. I am sure it is not the purpose of the sponsors of the bill to make provisions which would be unfavorable to those colleges or disadvantageous to the students attending them. Sincerely yours, JAMES CREESE. FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON UNIVERSITY, Hon. CARL ELLIOTT, Chairman, Subcommittee on Special Education, Congress of the United States, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR CONGRESSMAN ELLIOTT: I hereby express approval of bill H. R. 10381. Fairleigh Dickinson University is in a highly industrialized region of the United States. It is exceedingly important that we turn out students who, among other things, have been trained in the sciences and in engineering. But Fairleigh Dickinson is an extremely young institution. While it has provided engineering and science facilities in proportion far greater than usually obtains with institutions of its size and youth, it is still woefully short of the facilities that it should have. Furthermore, we have been working with the high school teachers in the area to enable them to achieve higher standards. Providing science facilities for colleges and universities throughout the country would be an extremely inexpensive way of encouraging greater training of scientists and engineers. Sincerely yours, Hon. CARL ELLIOTT, PETER SAMMARTINO, President. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, D. C., January 20, 1958. Chairman, Subcommittee on Special Education, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: I want to thank you for the invitation to express my views to members of the House Subcommittee on Special Education on the subject of a Federal program to strengthen our education system with special emphasis on a Federal scholarship program for high-school graduates. Shortly after taking my seat as a Member of this House in the 83d Congress, I filed a bill which would establish a Federal scholarship loan program to assist scholastically qualified but financially needy students to pursue a higher education. This bill before your subcommittee in the 85th Congress is H. R. 95. The candidates for loans would be selected by educators within the States and the program would be administered by the States. All student loans would be repayable. Since filing this bill, the need for a Federal scholarship program has been sharply brought into focus by the scientific advances made by the Soviets with the launching of the first earth satellite. In my opinion, the problem of financing higher education for the vast number of exceptionally bright American highschool graduates transcends all of the other problems with which this Nation is faced because of the cold war. I think that these young people should be given the opportunity to develop their intellectual potential, not only for their own benefit, but for the benefit of their growing country and the free world. If the United States is going to remain ahead of the Soviets in the present race for survival, it cannot afford to lose its vast reservoir of brainpower in the fields of engineering, science, and the humanities, merely because these young Americans cannot pay for a college education. To meet this emergency, I think that the Federal Government has now got to establish some direct Federal scholarships for young Americans who have achieved brilliant records in private, parochial, and public high schools. However, as a permanent program, I am still in favor of a Federal scholarship revolving fund from which loans can be made to students sincerely desiring a college education in the years ahead. Sincerely yours, EDWARD P. BOLAND, Member of Congress. Mr. CARL ELLIOTT, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, D. C., February 27, 1958. Chairman, Subcommittee on Special Education, Washington, D. C. DEAR COLLEAGUE: The enclosed statement is submitted for your committee hearings. With kindest personal regards, I am Sincerely yours, HUGH J. ADDONIZIO, Member of Congress. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I wish to express first my appreciation to the committee for the opportunity to add my plea for a Federal scholarship and loan program for the youth of our Nation. It is with much interest that I have studied the various bills and proposals which have been advanced to provide financial assistance to college students. In my judgment they constitute some of the major legislation that confronts this 2d session of the 85th Congress. I take this position for many reasons. As you know, I have introduced legislation which would provide scholarship loans to our college students. The first and foremost reason why I would like to see a Federal system of scholarships and loans to students for their higher education is the fact that we, here in America, have a great source of talent that is not going to be of any use to us unless we can train it to its fullest capacity. There are some 15 million Americans of college age in these United States. Of these, I might add that over 200,000 of these young people are in my State, the State of New Jersey. In some cases, the families have incomes that can well provide for their college education. But, unfortunately, there are thousands of capable young people to whom the doors of higher learning will be shut because they do not have the financial means of getting a college education. Recently the College Entrance and Examination Board together with the National Science Foundation published a joint report that revealed this shocking fact-each year between 60,000 and 100,000 students of exceptional ability are prevented from entering college because of insufficient financial resources. Another survey shows that 7 out of 10 capable students cannot finish their college courses because of low family incomes. What is a tremendous loss. What a needless waste. It is hard to believe that a nation as rich as ours, a nation that extends financial assistance to the tune of billions of dollars to people of other lands must stand by and see its own youth so neglected. How long shall we be able to afford this extravagance in our manpower resources? I need not take time to enumerate the shortages that exist in our vital professions, such as the shortages of scientists, mathematicians, physicists. This is only one phase of the tremendous lack of qualified personnel in many fields. I do not think that we should have a Federal system of student assistance merely to alleviate the shortages in science and technology alone, although at the moment this is a most pressing need. The shortages of teachers, at the elementary, secondary, and college level is as frightening as any other fact in our deficit of trained personnel. We must help the many thousands of capable young Americans to be educated for all the fields of endeavor for which they have been particularly endowed. We do not live in a static society and neither do we have a static population. America has as much need of the trained artist, the trained researcher, the trained statesman as she has of those who will maintain her defenses, both on land, sea, and in outer space. But it will be impossible for us to fill all of thees needs if we ignore the fact that financial need is limiting the opportunity of our youth, for the kind of education they deserve. In July 1957 the President's Committee on Education Beyond the High School presented its second report to the President. In this report, the Committee listed those problems of higher education that were most urgently in need of action. The first of these problems was the shortage of teachers-what the Committee termed as "the most critical bottleneck to the expansion and improvement of education in the United States." The second most outstanding problem in higher education named by the Committee was financial assistance to college students. The Committee's report gives an estimate of the actual amount of scholarship money that is available. In 1955 over $55 million was available for scholarships: $35 million through the colleges, $10 million through corporations and foundations sending selected individuals to colleges, and about $10 million in various State programs. These figures included students studying on the GI bill. To these 1955 estimates can be added, the Committee points out. the national merit scholarship program, increases in scholarship assistance by such States as New York, California, and possible other States, and the natural growth in scholarship funds. Omitting Federal funds, the President's Committee on Education Beyond the High School estimates the available scholarship total at roughly $60 million. How real is this need for scholarships? I feel that the need for financial assistance to our college students is more acute now than it has ever been in the past. We are all familiar with the rising costs of living, and this rise, too, is as prevalent in the maintenance of our colleges and universities as it is in any phase of our lives. A recent study published by the United States Office of Education points out that the average cost of attending college for 1956-57 amounted to $1,500 per year in public institutions and $2,0000 per year in private institutions. We are told also of the great number of scholarships that are available in colleges and universities. Industry has come forth also to help finance the college education of many of our most promising young people. But is this enough? Let use review briefly, for a moment, the kind and amount of scholarships that are available to the prospective college student. Again I should like to quote the second report of the Committee on Education Beyond the High School, for it goes on to say that, according to a recent survey covering 147 representative public and private colleges during a period of 1950-54, "nearly two-thirds of all scholarships paid less than 20 percent of the total college expenses of the scholarship holders." In this survey graduates reported a median total 4-year expenditure of $5,020, of which only 6.4 percent, or $420, came from scholarship funds. Here we can see how inadequate present scholarships tend to be. In my own State of New Jersey, according to bulletins published by the United States Office of Education in 1957, 28 colleges and universities offered, in 1955-56, a total of 4,515 undergraduate scholarships amounting to $1,765,323, and 11 colleges and universities in 1955-56 offered 454 graduate fellowships amounting to $598,918. For the undergraduate the amount received was roughly under $400 a year. When we consider the comparative cost of college, which is estimated from $1,500 to $2,000 a year for the undergraduate, we can see how difficult it is for a student to finance his college education. And these meager amounts are available only for those who have been fortunate enough to win a scholarship. Thousands of others throughout our Nation are mentally capable but have not had the opportunity of even winning a college scholarship. There is no doubt but that these young people would benefit from a Federal scholarship program. I hope that my remarks here today will contribute in some way to the awareness of our present neglect of our manpower potential and the means of correcting this abuse by providing Federal assistance to our college students, because I believe this to be one of our most pressing problems as a nation. Thank you for your courtesy in the matter. Mr. ELLIOTT. Our first witness today is Dr. Charles Cole, associate dean, Columbia College, Columbia University. Dr. Cole is representing the Association for Higher Education of the National Education Association. Dr. Cole has made extensive studies on the loss of talent from high school to college. One of his studies is entitled "Encouraging Scientific Talent," which was published in 1956. May I say to you, Dr. Cole, that we are happy to have you and to have your testimony, and you may proceed in any manner that you see fit. Mr. COLE. Thank you, sir. |