An Educational Challenge; C. J. Steiner, S.J.

More importantly, the challenge demands that we edu cate young men and women equal to the needs of our times. It is the mood of our times-and one to which we sub scribe heartily as being part of our American heritage that every American, qualified to pursue education be yond high school with benefit to himself and society, should be given such an opportunity. The Very Reverend C. }. Steiner, S.}., is President of the University of Detroit. [310 ] Our understanding of "qualified" implies and includes the following prerequisites: 1. Native ability 2. Achieved academic ability 3. Will and desire to profit from opportunity 4. Personal responsibility Without the will and desire to improve one's own condition and to develop one's native talents, a young person cannot be helped by a college education. Unfor tunately for some, the values of a college education are not transmitted by a process akin to osmosis; nor can a college education be forced upon one as food is forced upon an unwilling child. A parent can see to it that his son attends college, but he cannot force him to benefit from what goes on within its ivied walls.

To achieve the richest values from the total collegiate educational experience, an individual should be expected to exhibit a sense of personal responsibility for what is happening to him. The successful carrying forward of his academic program and even its financing should not devolve wholly upon parents, school, and society. Every student should be expected to make a reasonable contri bution toward the educational process. Opportunity for Youth There is a vast difference between offering our young people an opportunity for a college education and forc ing them to make use of such opportunity. When our young people face up to the problem and accept wholer311] heartedly their responsibility to achieve what is good for them and society, the educational process is bearing fruit. How one goes about achieving a college education can be more productive of enduring values than the mere acquiring of an academic degree.

We recognize that there are today-and probably will always be-a large number of qualified youth who are not able to finance the costs of their education. It does not follow, however, that, because of this situation, every American youth, irrespective of financial status, should receive a college education on an almost cost-free basis. There is an ever-increasing trend in our country to look to government for almost everything that is impor tant to the individual and society. We need badly a national system of interlocking highways, modem, fast, and efficient. Weare facing the first swells of a tidal wave of elementary school children for which at present our plant facilities and teaching personnel are inadequate both in terms of quantity and quality. New homes are needed all over our nation. Natural resources must be husbanded, and new sources must be provided as soon as possible. And so it goes.

The Great Illusion One could easily multiply or diversify the instances of national needs. This is not our point. What is discourag ing is not the fact of our needs. America has always faced up to these problems since the days of its birth. What is discouraging, rather, is the lack of diversity in [312 ] the provisions offered for the solution of almost every problem and the nearly universal· tendency of turning to government as if we had a kind of Mecca in Washington. Government has no money of its own. When govern ment does disburse money, it disburses our money. There really is nothing particularly beneficent about govern ment in its fiscal operation. Government money is our money gathered together by a process of taxation, hidden or open. Under no circumstances can we get back more than we have given government. As a matter of fact, we must pay for over head-for the cost of handling and distributing our money.

Ordinarily it will be considered safe to say that the overhead of management and distribution will be more costly on the state level than on the community level and even more costly on the national level than on the state level. Let Beneficiaries Pay One of the great illusions of our day, though, is that somehow, in some way, government can create or pro duce wealth with which to endow all the communities of our vast nation with monies to solve all or any of their problems. Essentially, we believe that those who benefit from higher education should pay for it. Accordingly, too, we believe that a rule of thumb, when applicable, should demand that those who benefit most from higher educa tion should pay the most. [313 ] We feel that an individual who is qualified for higher education, in that sense of the word as discussed pre viously, should contribute from his own resources to help pay for the cost of higher education. We do not feel that we are asking too much of any student to expect him to contribute a fair share of earnings from part-time or summer work to help defray the cost of his education. Apart from the culturally rich benefits of a college education, it has been shown that a college edu cation will mean an additional $100,000 in earnings to a person over a lifetime period.

Then, the parents of the student should be expected to contribute a fair share to the cost of education. The benefits they receive from a college education for their son or daughter are too obvious to dwell upon. Society, too, has its obligation, inasmuch as it is a prime beneficiary of the whole educational process. Soci ety, through the investment of gifts from friends of education, alumni of various colleges, business, industry, charitable trusts, and foundations, must bear its share of the cost. Tuition The key to financing higher education, though, is tui tion. Let colleges and universities charge tuition that represents a realistic share of the actual cost of higher education, and the burden of financing higher education will be borne by those who should bear it: namely, the student and his parents. [314 ] Today, privately-supported colleges and universities follow this pattern of finanCing. As a rule, tuition repre sents a major portion of the actual cost of educating a student. The difference between the income from tuition and the actual cost of higher education is made up by gifts from friends, alumni, income from invested funds, and from various auxiliary enterprises.

Youth Needs Challenge Some might object that to put into operation this prin ciple of payment by those who benefit most would be to force education beyond the financial ability of thousands of young men and women. We do not, of course, want to precipitate such a development. Actually, we believe that such a principle, when applied to this problem, will lead young people to reach out, to strive for something beyond themselves, and in so doing, to learn values and habits of immeasurable worth in meeting the demands of everyday living. Society does not offer the young person a home fully paid for and furnished with which to begin married life. Yet society is asked to do something for our young people, which, when analyzed, seems equally amazing. To expect the state or federal government to provide a tuition-free education for our youth-the hope of our nation-seems to us to be as unrealistic as expecting the state or federal government to provide our youth with sparkling new homes, completely outfitted and equipped for living.

[315 ] American youth is ambitious; American youth is coura geous. It awaits a challenge from us. It does not hesitate to work, earn, and save money to purchase a home for its family; nor, if called upon, would it hesitate to work, earn, and save to pay for a college education. Thousands upon thousands do it every year. Student Loans We concede that there are difficulties to be faced in working out a plan of this kind. But we offer as a pos sible solution to the major problem the setting up of loan fund machinery. Students could borrow money with which to pay tuition "vith a long-term program of repay ment beginning after graduation. No American youth hesitates to invest in a long-term program of the same kind for home or automobile. Why not such a program for a college education which is of almost inestimable value over a lifetime? We believe also that certain presumptions concerning the provision of educational facilities for our growing enrollments should be examined in light of the most careful scrutiny of our whole higher educational system.

For example, one common presumption is that if the school-age population doubles in a certain period, college enrollment will double; consequently, facilities and edu cational budgets must be doubled. American ingenuity and resourcefulness, we are con vinced, can provide educational opportunity for a greatly increased enrollment without doubling existing facilities [316 ] and .without doubling instructional and administrative personnel. A reorganization of the school calendar and a more efficient utilization of present facilities would do much to solve our problems. Overlooked Opportunities The traditional American college calendar, of course, is a functional development resulting from the demands of a predominantly agricultural society of another day. The long summer vacation was a concession to the need for additional help in the fields, and the lengthy holiday recesses were more than likely a concession to the rela tively primitive forms of transportation. Our rapidly developing industrial society makes no such calendar demands.

If the college calendar ceases to serve the needs of a dynamic American society, it must be changed. It is conceivable that a truly functional calendar would con sist of four periods of three months instead of the tradi tional two semesters with the shorter summer session tacked on, as it were. By means of this calendar, twice as many undergraduate students could be processed through existing facilities as previously. Such programs are currently in effect in many engineering colleges. Furthermore, we could re-examine with some benefit the present schedule that calls for classes to meet only three days each week. Why not five consecutive class days? Less time for dreams, perhaps; but, if we are look ing for a more efficient utilization of facilities and faculty, [317 ] we should re-examine our present educational practice in its totality. We could experiment even further with the relatively new medium-television-to solve the problem of too few teachers and too few buildings. We are convinced that this medium-when properly utilized-will enable one professor to meet as many students as are traditionally met by ten. Such a development can surely be looked for in those subjects in which lecture-work predominates.

Nor can we afford to overlook the possibilities implicit in visual aids such as movies. The Problem Re-examined Any re-examination of our total educational practice must involve a searching scrutiny of our curricula. Are we offering programs that are designed to fit our young people to meet the needs of our day-or are we preparing our youth for a day long since past? To solve the complex problem of higher education and to develop a workable blueprint for American higher education, we must: 1. Revise our goals to prepare youth for life in our times. 2. Re-examine our methodology to take full advantage of the latest developments in the art of communi cations. 3. Scrutinize courses of study-to eliminate the anti quated. [318 ] 4. Lead our youth to assume greater responsibility for personal development. 5. Integrate our whole educational process with com munity endeavors to make faculty and student body a part of community life.

We face the future awed by the enormity of the task ahead when actually we should be thrilled by the chal lenge it offers to our resourcefulness and ingenuity. The problem will be solved if we approach it in the dynamic American traditiona tradition based on a willingness to depart from the antiquated to embrace that which is new and good. A slavish adherence to revered educa tional idols will only defeat us. What is called for. here is a revolutionary spirit in seeking out what is good-but new-to blend with that which is good-but old. [319 ] CONTEMPT FOR LAW CRIME continues to grow. The FBI reports the number of major crimes in 1956 was the highest on record. Why? We claim to be peace loving, don't we? Yet crime is war. Our crime rate is one of the highest in the world. Who and what is responsible? Many reasons can be given. All contribute, but there's an accessory that is seldom, if ever, mentioned.