Evening star., 1947-12-22
Low Family Incomes
Found Big Obstacle
To College for Many
By Colt Hendley. Jr.

adequacy OF family incomes is
responsible for the most sober
ing inequalities" in the oppor-
tufaities for. education offered
Americas youth, according to
the Presidents Commission on
Higher Education.
The commission issued new re-
port expanding earlier recon-
.msndations, including one that
s1o6, 900 900 be appropriated by the
FEDERAL Government during the next
school year to help need students
60 to college. The scholarship grants
woald 60 as high as $500 to some
500, 900 students.
The new volume of the COM
missions report on the made
ouacies of American education, with
recommendations for their correc-
tion, was released last night. AS in
the first volume the District was
pointed to specifically as a sore
SPOT In the Nation because Of seq
regation.
S0utnefnerS OlVe tleNSs
+, Disagreement with the commits
sions recommendations for the end
ins Of segregation was expressed by
four Southern members of the 28-
person group, who charged that such
announcements impede progress
and threaten tragedy TO the people
Of the South. both white and Negro
Their dissent was noted in the
first volume last week but the
grounds for their stand was not ex-
planned until this second volume
was RELEASED.
The dissenters were Douglas S
Freeman, editar of the Richmond
CvaD News Leader: Goodrich White
president Of Emory University;
Lewis A. Jones, president of the
University of Arkansas. and Arthur
n. Compton, chancellor of Wash
ington University, St. Louis.
Conditions Recognized.
Their statement said:
I'VE recognize that many condi-
tions affect adversely the lives OF
our Negro citizens and that gross
inequality of opportunity, economic
land educational, is a fact. We are
concerned that as rapidly as posi-
bic conditions should be improved,
INEQUALITIES removed and greater
opportunity provided for all people.
But we believe that efforts toward
these ends must, in the South. be
made within the established pat
terms of social relationships. which
require separate educational insti-
tutions for whites and Negroes. We
believe that pronouncements such
as those of the commission on the
question of segregation jeopardize
these efforts, impede progress and
threa ten tragedy to the people OF
the South both white and Negro.
Cannot Ignore History"
I'VE recognize the high purpose
and the theoretical idealism OF the
commissions recommendations. But
q doctrinaire position which ignores
the facts Of history and the realities
Of the present is not one that will
contribute constructively to the solu-
ton of dificuit problems of human
relationships
In commenting on discriminatory
practices The commission said that
the shortage of doctors, serious for
the white population, is near
catastrophe" for the health Of the
. Negro pppslation and discrimina-
tion by educational institutions is
q contributing factor
Rejected Many Applicants.
It. cited the fact that Howard
University here and Meharry Med
ical College train the bulk of the
colored doctors. Howard University
had 1850 applicants. but could ac-
cept only rs last fall. the report
said. Last fall so applicants were
admitted to the Howard Dental
School from nearly 1000 applicants.
Of the II medical schools in the
Nation 20 are located in the South
and do not admit Negroes Actually
one third of the presumably nom
segregated schools are admitting
Negro students, the report con-
tinued.
A total of 1926 physicians were
graduated in 1916 and only 154
were colored. All but 20 of the
colored doctors came from Howard
and Meharry.
z. S. Program Recommended.
The commission, headed by DR..
George F. zook. president of the
American Council of Education, rec
commended:
A Federal program of scholarships
In the from of grants-in- aid at the
undergraduate level based primarily
on idiyidual need. available to all
types Of higher educational institu-
tions. This would follow broadly
the precedent set by the GI Bill of
Rights.
A federally administered plan of
fellowships for graduate study with
candidates selected on the basis of
q national competitive examination
The elimination of tuition and
other student fees in all publicly
controlled colleges and universities
for the first two years and reduc-
ton in fees for the last two years
at least back to the level of 1889.
Change in Policy Urged.
Immediate abandonment Of COL
lege admissions policies which result
In discrimination against students
on grounds of race, religion, color
sex or national origin.
Enactment of legislation in II
States and the District to eliminate
segregation.
The establishment of free COM
munity colleges which would offer
courses In general, vocational and
adult education.
Sweeping changes in the curricu-
lum for the first two years Of college
so that the high degree OF student
mortality can be cut down.
Criticizing in detail "tacit or overt
methods used by some colleges to
bar the entrance of Jews and Ne
sroes, the commission proposed that
Federal appropriations be used only
In those institutions where discrim-
inatory practices do not exist
The commission recommended
that the amount federally appro-