The Lexington advertiser. [volume] (Lexington, Miss.) 1904-1985, 1963-07-18

Increasingly, the burden of
higher education is being
passed from the state to the
parents, which penalties
many least able to pay and
thus denies many capable
young men and young women
the opportunity for college
training because of their pa
rents inability to pay the
students costs. 1t is interest
ing to note that the total fees
Tor a resident student at
MSCW exceed total fees for
a resident student at the
University of Illinois. A Mis-
sissippi student pays more
fees at the University of
Southern Mississippi than
does a resident student at the
University of Wisconsin. At
Delta State the resident fees
are higher than they are at
the University of Florida. The
University of Mississippi's
fees exceed those of the Uni
versitv of Wyoming.
May | remind you parents
-
that never before has the gap
between the learned and the
unlearned - the trained and
the unframed - the educat-
ed and the ignorant been SO
great. Never before has the
cost of ignorance been so high
and the dividend from edu-
cation been SO large as in the
present day. This being true,
it is a challenge to parents to
provide the maximum edu-
cation for their children and
a challenge to that state to
provide quality education at
a minimum cost to the stu
dent.
Now let us consider the
matter of generalization. There
is a lot of loose talk going
around that cit doesn't make
any difference whether our
colleges or universities are ac-
credited or not" This is not
true, and whoever repeats
such a statement performs a
disservice to his state, to our
colleges and universities, and
betrays the young people of
Mississippi who are now at
tending or in the future will
attend these institutions.
What is accreditation any
way? Accreditation is simply
the application of a standard
and a measurement by which
an educational institution is
compared with other institu-
tons. 1t is a standard to de
termine if the institution is
performing its function pro-
perly in the field of educa-
ton.
This standard measures
first = facilities of the insti-
tuition. Are there satisfactory
buildings? Adequate labora-
tory facilities? Is the library
satisfactory? 1t goes without
saying that minimum facili-
ties would be required to car
ry on a program of higher
education.
Second, generalization mea-
Sures the faculty. Is the facul-
ty qualified? What portion of
the faculty has advanced de-
grees? Are teachers competent
in the fields. in which they
are teaching? Is there a rea-
sonable ratio between the
number on the faculty and
the number in the student
body? Accreditation measures
the faculty to see that they
are qualified to do a compe-
tent job.
Third, generalization also
measures the student body.
This is done by requiring
certain exams, or requiring
the completion of certain
high school courses before a
person can enter the institu-
ton. 1t also requires that
student progress be made
from year to year in order
to assure achievement and
advancement in college work.
Accreditation measures the
student body.
Fourth, accreditation eval-
yates an atmosphere for
learning. You could have a
choice faculty and a careful
ly selected student body and
yet the atmosphere on the
campus might be such as to
greatly inhibit the learning
processes. A good learning
institution cannot remain
amidst unrest, turmoil or in
reference, even if the inter
ference comes from the Pre-
sident of the United States.
This comes under the judg-
ment of accreditation.
What, then, is the value of
generalization? An accredited
institution means that it is
meeting certain minimum
standards. 1t means that a
measure has been applied to