Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-28

dent Andrew jackson, who could not
read when he married, Is Q familiar
instance. But 1t may be answered that
educational standards were different,
century ago, from what they are today.
That Is true: in early days colleges were
confined to the classics" and scorned
science. and the masses OF people were
educated" with the three RS" only
and could hardly spell all the RS"
correctly. Times have changed in
their educational standards. But
alas!-some colleges fail to keep that
fact In mind, and so their leaders
pirate about the folly Of material
progress" and the importance Of 1.-THE
intellectual grasp of the realities OF
lke," as If the declension OF q Latin
phrase or the nice shading OF q Greek
sentence constituted the realities"
rather than knowledge Of radio and OF
how to harness the powers OF vulcan
and make fertilizer out Of blue sky.
Today Is the era of scientific discovery
and application, such as the ages
never dreamed of. Today's adults musS
study the new discoveries.
There is a serious question today
not among hard headed, practical bust
ness men alone, but among the broad.
st-minded educators. as to the trend
OF the old institutions of classic learn
ing. Colleges are alleged to be taxing
the wrong fork of the road, IN sneer1ng
at the material success outside the
lecture room. Though colleges may truly
point with pride at their increasing
patronage, it is a bit disconcerting TO
discover that while the total PATRONAGE
of the American colleges amounts to
$35, 900, 900 a year. the tuition OF the
mail-order correspondence institutions
totals $40 1000, 900, and while America Il
colleges now have $4,000 students.
there are 100000 students enrolled In
home-study courses, 90 per cent devoted
to material progress" The GORE
spondence school" is distinctively Amer
lean and certainly distinctively modern.
It has come to full recognition as
such by the Carnegie Foundation. which
has taken 1t UP within the last hve
years, in an unprecedented manner.
cross-section analysis under the direc-
ton Of the Carnegie Foundation dis
closes that of 10000 home-study stu
dents, whose records are traced through
1877 correspondence schools, 80 per cent
are taking practical vocational studies
and only 10 per cent appear interested
I'm the classics or the alleged college
standard realities of life"-such as
poetry and philosophy.
Taking the whole student body OF
cur public schools, the average age OF
quitting school is Is years. The aver
age age of enrolling for home-study
course Is 10 years older-coming about
when the student has had decade Of
realization of what he needs and Is
facing matrimony and the Obligations
Of self-betterment.
The old bugaboo, which assumed that
only a child could study school course.
has been destroyed by the research OF
the correspondence schools. It Is dis
closed In a book entitled Adult Learn
ing" by Thorndike and collaborators Of
Columbia University, that the ability to
learn reaches its peak at about the age
of 26-ten years after the average age
of quitting school-and from that peak
declines at the rate Of only ! per cent
year thereafter; yet. even so, the
adult of IS Is as capable Of learning
new knowledge as the child Of 16. There
are many exceptions to this general age
rule; Gladstone learned Greek after he
was 20 years old. Adults in study. are
more likely to make practical applica-
ton Of what they acquire than are
adolescents, hence achieve greater net
results.
IL Is IlOt 70 NC dSSuIIlcu tIldb tttcIC
are really two camps of educational
activity-the old style university and
the newer correspondence schools; many
colleges today maintain correspondence
courses and have more students taking
such than they have in their class
rooms.
The development Of study by mail Is
almost wholly within the English-speak-
ing peoples, and more especially IN the
United States--mostly In small cities
and rural districts. American institu-
tons of that nature maintain branches
throughout the world.
y u X
College extension work began some
so years ago and was given an impetus
by the chautauquas in the decade Of
the eighties" It has developed greatly
since the World War. This is attrib-
uted to the awakening incident to the
war through travel by so many soldiers
and to the vocational training given by
the Government to the disabled after
had such a broadening of vision. but,
through them, 1t has aroused their rela-
tiveS and acquaintance to the posi-
bilities Of adult education.
Beginning in 1924, the Carnegie Foun-
dalton has taken an active interest In
turthering the movement. After years
of investigation 1t established In WASH
ington a clearing house for the guild
ance Of the public to the particular
course most desirable for special pur-
poses. There are hundreds Of such
courses available. This is known as the
National Home Study Council, which Is
now supported, comparatively, by the
colleges and correspondence schools. It
is presided over by Carnegie worker,
DR.. J. S. Hoffsinger, Phi. D., who for
three years had charge Of Government
vocational training Of the veterans Of
New York City.