The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1899-11-02
Advantages OF a Three-Year Course

1t takes but little figuring to show thai
few can afford to take a four wear hioh
school course, four year college course,
ana then an extended professional course.
L is phase of the situation has been met
IN large number of our leading institu
tons, by granting the professional student
the privilege of dropping his humanistic
studies at the end of his Junior wear. and
giving him his bachelors diploma on the
com petion of the first year of his profess
sional study. In other words, he is per
mitted so to arrange his work as to receive
credit for it in both departments. SO far.
| then, as these students are concerned, the
old position has been given up, and the
| three year course already exists. The
fact that this is not recognized in words
| is OF little account: we are concerned with
realities, not with Names
| When this concession to professional
students was first urged by the more lib
| eral element of the faculty of the collegiate
| department, it was strenuously opposed by
the conservative minority. The latter
| pointed out that is was virtually the adop-
ton of three year course, SO far as these
students We're concerned; that it was ''the
entering wedge;' and that in few years,
a three-year collegiate course along
special lines deserves of us masters de-
gree; and this demand will soon be met
After this has been the practice for few
years, the granting of the bachelors de-
gree at the end of three years of general
collegiate work will be regarded as a mat
ter of course and will arouse little com
ment.
AS we have seen, it is mistake to sup
p Sc that the entire problem still remains
to be solv q. 1t has been already more
than half solved. Though the number of
persons affected thus far by the conces-
slons is not great, the principle has been
conceded, and the application of it to all
cases is only matter of time. In this, as
IN other movements, certain institutions
have ken the lead and their influence
has led Others to follow, or even to go
further. But we must not look for unifor-
nifty here any more than elsewhere. Con
ditions are not the same everywhere,
and the concessions made will vary ac-
cordingly. In some institutions the
change will come gradually, in others
with leap. Moreover, the contem-
plated shortening of the undergraduate
period applies only to those institu-
tions that have unduly raised their en-
trance requirements. large proper
tion of our colleges have lower require
ments and bring then graduates to about
the point reached by the students of the
best colleges at the end Of the third year.
These weaker institutions, as [ pointed
out in an article in the Education Review
for December, 1897, Will not reduce their
underg raduate course but will desig-
nate THEN present freshman work as mere
ly preparatory. Ali such diversity in de-
tails must, however. not blind us to the
tact that great change is going on which
is not likely to cease until our institutions
have adapted themselves to the conditions
that brought it about.
That he change will be Of advantage
to the individual young man on young
woman who desires to get liberal educa-
uon. before entering upon the special
| training required for his ol her calling in
lie, has been shown over and over again.
In the article referred to above | showed
that the change will also be of great ad-
vantage to our institutions of learning, in
(D that it will increase the number of
students doing real graduate work, and
that such students viii 90 to the larger
graduate schools and thus build up real
universities; (2l that it will make of the
remaining Institutions real colleges of a
fairly uniform grade. There can be no
doubt that division OF our infinitely va
ried higher institutions of Learning into
greatest Blooms that could fall to the lot
OF education in this country 1.-The
Passing Of the Four Year Period" by
Prot. George Hempl in the October
Forum.