New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1906-09-01

almost
a free academy whose diploma was honored by the
colleges. but the public high school of the small
village unknown The old private academy ana
the private tutor prepared most coilegians- Iheh
came the rapid rise of the private school. ioio"eu
by the wonderful revolution in the public school
Every village boasts it's public union or high
school. where the student may pursue full pre-
paratory course.
The result OF this movement has been enor
NOUS increase in college attendance. Many an
ambitious village youth. without the means for an
expensive preparatory course, has thus been hepeu
to enter college. Many another. with no thought
OF college career to begin with has had his am
bition stirred by the atmosphere OF his village high
school. 1t Is equally true that the Increased num-
Der OF private preparatory schools has brought
more easygoIns of weltO-do parents into an
atmosphere of inspiration that has eventually
landed them in the universities
IL EFFECT ON ATTENDANCE
The most obvious effect then. of the preparatory
school is to ntro to a large extent the quantity
of attendance the college The remarkable IN
GREASE in attendance at colleges In recent years
comedies with the growth in number of public ana
private institutions of preparatory rank 1fue' the
erect is in a great measure reciprocal The growing
demand for a college education has been a spur 10
the building of good preparatory schools. But the
quality as we'll as the quantity. of the college at
tendance has been affected by the development Oh
fhe secondary school. The free school brought
great influx of blood to the college portals
rnen who had their own way to make IN the "o'iu
and who came to college with definite pracucai
purpose The private school, too. was giving 10 the
sons of the well-to-do and wealthy classes more
l,horougb and advanced preparation and the mill
tary schools giving to their graduates Il ne"
sturdiness and energy which enabled them 10 COM
pete on equal terms with their coilese c''"
from the farm and the workshop
With this increase in numbers ana apliIS III ''''
college attendance came not only increased income
but increased demands for equipment "ie" o
fruit in better educational facilities, larger
new buildings and more complete libraries Iheh'
TOO the colleges foundsthe old hard ana faSt caS
.;r,i COURSES were being assaled In the first place.
tho student came to College well grounded IN 'he
classics and modern languages. making unnecessary
much Of the preliminary work in these prahcHeS
formerly done III college. With this was coming All
Increased interest in scientific and technca courses
and the sentiment began to grow that the iatih
and Greek in the preparatory courses were quite
sufficient This awakening OF interest IN the SCI
ences was furthered by the secondary school, WITH
Cts Iaborato and its extensive preliminary courses
1srom this came the desire for specializing, the
eclectic course scientific degrees. and the entrance
into the old arts college university and technical
school courses.
IN THE VAN OF PROGRESS
: For all this the private preparatory schools OF
The country have been largely responsible ifIey
led the van of progress which made the splendid
system of public high schools what they are to-day.
the best modern methods in preparatory education
Then too the majority of the students of our large
universities being prepared to-day in the private
schools spite of the great progress of the public
high school A few figures will suffice to show this
direct bearing of the private school the college
in Yale, perhaps OF the most typical large uni
Nersities OF the country more than three-tfths of
the students are prepared in the private schools
by private Nearly 70 per cent of the honor
men OF this university those who pre-
pared the private school. In Harvard the Oldest
university in the country 70 per cent of the stu
dents prepared in private schools. Taking the
colleges universities of the country throughout,
there are few where the percentage of those pre-
pared in private schools is less than So
From all this has arisen what is perhaps the most
revolutionary sentiment in modern educ2tion-the
demand for shorter college course. 1t is argued
that much of the first year work now done in col
leSe is well done in the preparatory school. ana
that the last belongs to the technical school
university proper. Many leading educators are
strong advocates Of a shortened college On
the other hand is the great body of conservatives
who denounce the movement destructive of all
for which the college stands on the middle ground
those who. while still demanding the equivalent
OF the four year course, advocates of the
elective plan and favor the scheme by which capa-
BILE students. by doing extra work may finish their
University of Rochester is of the latter class
and has been foremost in the ranks of those fight
ing for a rational compromise between the two ex-
tribute the scholastic rank of the secondary
IL.