Evening star., 1951-03-18
Truman Action Waited
On Student Deferment
Affecting 100000
By George Beveridee

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A final White House decision is
expected within 10 days on an
elaborate draft deferment plan
for college students, with both
educational and Government lead
ers anticipating approval by Presi-
dent Truman.
Under the plan, it was learned,
about 100000 college students :
starting in May-are slated to
take aptitude tests at 1900 test
ing centers throughout the. coun-
try to determine if they are eligi-
BILE for deferment.
DR.. Arthur S. Flemming, man
power chief for the Office of De-
fense Mobilization, and Selective
Service Director Lewis B. Hershey
refused to speculate on when the
White House action might come
or what the decision will be.
Will Give Draft Yardstick.
1t is known, however. that draft
officials only are waiting for the
final word to pull the trigger on
mechanics of the plan, which have
been under development for sew
eral months. The proposal for
the first time would give hundreds
of thousands of high schools and
college students a yardstick with
which to gauge their chances OF
staying in school.
If, as expected, President Tru-
man approves the plan as it now
is drawn up, it would be virtually
mandatory for draft boards to
defer students who either:
/. Attain a certain grade on
the aptitude test.
2. Make scholastic grades high
enough to put them in upper per-
centages of the male members OF
their class.
One Word Brings Change.
In it's original form. the plan
would have required students to
make a specific test grade land"
to maintain specific scholastic
standards. BY changing the land"
to "or," administration policy
makers opened the deferment
> door to thousands of additional
students.
Primarily, however, officials said,
the change was made to satisfy
complaints of both large and small
colleges.
In it's present form, the plan
assures small schools-particularly
in rural areas-that certain per-
centages of their students can be
: deferred, even If the students are
unable to pass the aptitude test.
At the same time-in schools
which have extremely high scho-
lastic standards-as many stu
! dents as pass the tests could be
deferred, without regard to how
they ranked in class.
Test Similar to Earlier Type.
The test itself, it was under
stood, is similar to the old Army
General Classification Test, used
during World War II to determine
eligibility for officer candidate and
other schools. 1t was designed to
measure ability to learn, rather
than book learning" This is in
line with Gen. Hershey's feeling
that deferment must be based on
promise shown by the student,
rather than on the type of course
he might be in.
The test is set up with 100 as
the highest possible score, with
a score of 10 required as the level
for deferment.
As Gen. Hershey envisions the
plan, however, the score Of 10 will
depend entirely on military man
power needs. If forces must be
mobilized more quickly-withj
fewer deferments-for example.
the score coud be raised to 80 or
80. If the manpower need is less,
the score could be dropped below
10.
First Tests Will Be Key.
Another draft official said It
would not be possible to determine
how many men would reach the
score of 10 until the first tests
are given.
The plan-if White House ap-
proval is given-is to carry out
the first tests during the last
week of May. Two additional
testing periods would be set in
June. with the exam given each
time in all 1900 centers. The
exams, under the plan, would be
given by the Educational Testing
Service, of Princeton, N. j.
A House Armed Services Com
mittee report quoted Gen. Her.
shey as saying so days would be
required from the time the pro-
gram is authorized until the first
test is given. Recommending the
plan to the Office of Defense
Mobilization last Monday, the
draft chief had set March is as
the date by which it should be
started.
Inductions Held Up.
Gen. Hershey also was quoted
in the report as saying the tests
must be finished in time to apply