a eh oe ne WY No@tsE PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS 28 EAS T JACKSON CHICAGO AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS A.F.L. - C.1.0. BOULEVARD & ILLINOIS TABLE OF CONTENTS HIGHER EDVCATICN Problems and Prospects 1957-1970 Reasons for Increasing Enrollments. Teacher Shortage in Colleges and Universities, III. Rise of Junior Colleges. Iv. Informal Adult Education. Presidents! Cormittee on Education Beyond High School, VI. Implications for the Future. VII, Bibliography. Prepared by the RESEARCH DEPARTMENT of the AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS Mary Herrick, Director Srice: 25 Cents per copy SE HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE UNIT:D STATES Problems and Prospects 1957-1970 There will be at least twice as many students in college in 1970 as there were in 1955, and perhaps three times as many. There are several reasons for this anticipated growth in institutions of higher learning. Reasons for Increasing Enrollments. More children are being born. Almost twice as many children will be born in 1956 as were born in 1936. The impact of the increased birth rate of the 1940's will reach» the colleges by 1960 and from then on, enrollments will rise sharply. Colleges and uni- versities ay Eee 1.1 om students in 1930, 2.8 million in 1955, and are expected to enroll 4.9 million in 1965. COLLEGE sapere By 1970, 5 million or more are expected. 190 - 196 Not all of this increase is due to the birth rate. Certainly the increase from 1945 to 1955 was not due to the in- creased birth rate, as the students in that age group were still a part of the |. MELEIONS, Ss lt small depression generation. It was due to the G. I. Bill of 8, to the increase! car Cc. - iows more students leisure for study, easing dfortrain- 3|----------- High school enrollment increased from 11.5 per cent of the age group in 2 1900 to 80 per cent or more in 1950,as standards of living increased and child labor was no longer useful. In 1900, two-thirds of all hres 1h-21 years old were working, and that age group made up one-fourths of all workers. In 1950, one-third of all per- sons 1-21 years old were working, and the age group constituted only one-tenth 1960 1905 of all workers. The number of persons 1-21 years old rose )) per cent in 50 ("Our Manpower Future") years. The number attending school rose 1000 per cent. Colleges are now going through the same kind of transformation in the last half of the century as the high schools did in the first half. In 1900, ) per cent af the people 1-21 years of in college, In 19h0 it had risen to 1¢ per cent and ty 5 15 isniguenents coeche per cent, The demand for teachers, engineers, physicians physicists and other scienti accentuated at the present time, because the age group from which they mst i pom is abnormally low, because of the depression birth rate. But the permanent rise in the - portion of such workers to the total labor force is inherent in our technological society. ee ——eeeE__"”" —SO 2. to be a 75 per cent increase among the professional and te e 5 chni A decrease of 25 per cent in unskilled laborers is predicted f, ie There is expected or the workers in 1975. same period. EMPLOYMENT IN MAJOR OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS PER CENT CHANGE 1955-1965 10 -20 uv PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL PROPRIETORS AND MANAGERS ' CLERICAL AND SALES ' CRAFTSMEN (SKILLED) i] OPERATIVES (SeNI-SKILLED) ! SERVICE WORKERS ' ' LABORERS ' ' FARMERS AND FARM WORKERS Site St as a ee ee ee Se "Our Manpower Future" Another factor in the increasing enrollments in institutions of higher learning is the deepening realization that human talent is the greatest resource of the nation. and a e ed States is going to waste. 1t is estimated ’ E a gh school graduates do not go on to college for fi- nancial reasons. It is estimated that another 100,000 of the most able young people do not go on to college or in some cases even finish high school because of lack of motiva- tion. A study of all high school graduates in Minnesota in 1950 indicated that low income status was a definite obstacle to higher education, Of young men with high abil- ity, 92 per cent of those whose fathers were professional workers planned to go to col~ lege, but only 69 per cent of those whose fathers worked in factories. Eighty-one per cent of the sons af professional workers went to college, and only 30 per cent of the Bons of factory workers, Twenty-five per cent of boys with high ability do not get any ox gducation and 38 per cent of the girls of high ability. Children in low aera Urban areas ag areas are particularly handicapped, Children from minority groups 7 asia ae bal arias ci by low economic status and inhibited vocational. aspira™ One regation itself, a eae SS handicapped by lack of secondary schools 2 : — TT 30 The additional teachers, engineers and scientists needed mst come from this group of able youth now not reaching maximum development. This is particularly true of the generation born in the depression. Teacher Shortage in the Colleges and Universities. There were about 190,000 instructors in colleges ant universttes In 1950. Tuo “hun= dre: ousand wi e needed in ans 000 970. “Forty per cent of col- ege teachers have held Ph. D. degrees in recent years, Unless the rate of production of Ph. Dé#s increases, by 1960, only 20 per cent will hold that degree. The present rate of recruiting college teachers does not in- dicate that the number needed will be avail- able. There are already great shortages in sciences, mathematics, and other subjects for which industry competes. The Fund for the Advancement of Educa- tion, in its publication, "Better Utiliza- tion of College Teaching Resources," makes the following suggestions for meeting the shortage of teachers in instutitions of higher education: 1) make students more responsible for their own education, 2) simplify and reduce the diversity of the curriculum, MCRE THAN HALF OUR ABLEST | YOUNG PEOPLE DO NOT GO TO COLLEGE | 20% 40 not finisa high Va school / hos / os finish g6 to school, buy do not go college | to colleg | he | 3 "Teachers for Tomorrow" 3) use teacher aides to relieve teachers of "non-professional duties." 4) use TV, so that able teachers may instruct large groups. 5) use larger classes in general. 6) use non-teachers to advise student organizations, for semi-administrative duties, for non-academic committee work. The Fund is supporting experiments in courses where the student reads by himself versus discussion courses at Antioch College, in the use of large lecture classes for freshmen and sophomores at the University of Connecticut, the University of Michigan and the Uni- versity of Oregon, and in the use of television with large classes at Duke University, Purdue University and at the University of Pittsburgh, The Fund has followed the pat— tern set in its studies of the teacher shortage in elementary and high schools, of assum- ing that large classes and reduction of direct contact between students and teachers are inevitable. The present ratio of college teachers to students is 1 to 13, increased now in some institutions. Not only is the recruit: teaching in lar This ratio is being of new teachers slow, but college teache l ge numbers for better paying work. ’ 134 rs are leaving k. alaries Must be Raised, and Working Conditions Improved, Si es } ; or more of study after high school, the me Atter five to eight Yor sities in 1956 is approximately $5200. > Univer e in 1953 structors have increased 3} cians went up 127 per cent between 190 and 197 ang college of $3700, Incomes of physi come: . r the se: ead college teachers will increase as the denand for trained workers goes up.There, vi ig no possibility of moeting the teacher shortage in colleges without higher salaries, 5 is i itions for college teachers can be improved, Clerks and machines ¢; edit ae ers routine clerical work necessary in any large institution. More oe sective standards of performance as bases for promotion should be developed, Many col- iaue teachers are completely dependent for security on the goodwill of one man -zho hap~ sens to be head of a department. Tenure is granted only after many years and several promotions in many institutions. The present emphasis on scholarly production as a basi- ‘or promotion minimizes teaching skill, which is now at a premium. Threats to academic freedom from patrioteers, selfish business interests, and igno- vant legislators threaten freedom of teaching and free discussion in the social sciences, The right of the college teacher to act freely as a citizen in his commmity is not cranted in somo areas. Oaths of loyalty and inquisitions as to harmless past associa- do not enhance the prestige of college teaching. low Can More Money to Finance Higher Education be Found? Colleges and universities must have more money. Even those with very large endow nents find their incomes from investments cut in half by inflation. Tuition rates are being raised everywhere, but tuition never covers the cost of instruction and each addi- tional student increases the need for funds. The American Council on Education lists the present sources of income for institutions of higher learning. 1) Philanthropy, (Qifts from individuals and foundations amounted to some 3379,500,000 in 15 Many of these are for definite purposes specified by the giver. ; 2) Contributions of alumi. These amounted to some $63,000,000 in 1955. More than helt of alumi gifts go to the Large private colleges and universities. 3) Gifts from business and industrial corporations. The Council for Financial Aid to Education has been organized to urge such Sani intioas. Federal laws and the laws of 33 states allow tax deductions for such cifts from corporations. In 1950, the gifts to colleges and universities from corporations amounted to $252,000,000. This was 0.6 per 000. cent af the $42,000,000,000 net profits of all American corporations. Most of these gifts are restricted, that is, used for ignated purposes - ding specially des: P the » 2 special course, ec. Fifty-seven per cent of the corporations stated that coy ueferred to make their gifts this way. Some make gifts of scholarships to families employees only. Some give to institutions whose graduates are useful to them. This is a large and increasingly important source of income for colleges. The questions pepe ot is by companies who disapprove of free teaching on econome Tanies uho sing Covious that it scarcely needs to be pointed out. Many of the large com practices oe ropes Senerously are those criticized for tax exemption policies, labor t H concentration of power. The repressive effect on academic freedom the th: reat of possible withdrawal of huge funds from an institution is not imaginary+ Se The great public universities have suffered from the same kind of threat from ignorant or bigoted legislators. The Council for Financial Aid to Education lists the following contributions in it: March 1957 bulletin: Socony Motor Oil $ 275,000 Fort Motor Company 6,575,000 National Distillers Products Corporation (match any gift by an employee up to $1,000) Standard Oil of Chio 95000 Sante Fe Railroad Foundation 55,000 First National Bank of New York 150,000 General Foods Fund, Incorporated 127,500 International Nickel 189,500 Texas Company 210,000 On April 1, 1957, the United States Steel Foundation announced that it would give $1,800,000 to 600 private colleges in 1957, 4) Labor Unions. The AFL-CIO lists more than 13 pages of scholarships offered by local an ernational unions and by state federations. This movement is encouraged wholeheartedly by the Education Division of the AFL-CIO. Most of the money goes to mem- bers or their children for scholarships after an examination or essay on the labor move- mente 5) Foundations. Gifts for special purposes have been made by a number of founda- tions, such as the funds for experimentation with TV by the Fund for the Advancement of Education. The General Education Board provides scholarship funds of more than $3,000,000 a year, largely for graduate study. The National Merit Scholarship Foundation was set up by the Ford Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation and has been joined by Time, Inc., and the Sears Roebuck Foundation. It provides $1,000,000 in scholarships every year for the next 10 years. The Ford Foundation gave $260,000,000 for college tea- chers' salary increases to 630 private colleges and universities last year. The tremen- dous resources of the foundations make their decisions a life and death matter to some institutions. 6) City governments and local school boards. Four year city colleges and junior colleges receive some support from local taxes in the large cities where they exist.The rising cost per student and the rapidly increasing enrollments have increased pressure for a larger share of state support for local public colleges. 7) State governments. The great state universities and state teachers colleges are supporte y state funds. Appropriations for junior colleges from state funcs are increasing. 8) The federal government. The federal government still sends some veterans to colleges for rehabilitation and re-training, furnishes scholarships through the National Science Foundation, for research in public health and atomic energy, for research for the Departments of Defense and Agriculture. The large funds given certain institutions equipped for research are useful to them, but do not influence the general situation very far, One major reason for the increase in college enrollment between 195 and 1955, how- ever, was the large expenditure for the G. I. Bill of Rights. 9) Tuition, Tuition rates are going up in all institutions. The have increased an average of 85 per cent since 190. The increase is a deterrent to admission of able CO 6. sudents without sufficient funds, and makes more necessary wide opportunity for schol- ie Sa But it does not solve the financial problem of the colleges. The Council for Financial Aid to Education sums up the sources of funds for higher education as follows: Private Public Tuition and fees 55% 18% Endowment income 14% 2% Gifts and grants 19% 3 Federal, state and local governments A 12% Other sources 8% 5% Can higher education in the United States find a billion dollars more money in the next ten years and not lose its freedom? Rise of Junior Colleges. One of the hopeful answers to that question lies in the rapid rise of the junior college. In fifty years, the number of junior colleges has risen from nothing to 598. Eighty-eight per cent of all junior college students are enrolled in some 30 public col- leges. The enrollment has risen from 267,000 in 190 to 622,000 in 195). More than half of those enrolled are adults and special students, many in the Focetional and semi-pro= fessional terminal courses offered in 560 of the 598 colleges. Some of these courses are geared to a given commmity. In New York City, where 65 per cent of the nation's clothes are made, more than 200 people step into work annually from the course in Apparel Design. At least half of the students in junior colleges expect to go to a four year col- lege. The University of California gets 2500 transfers annually from junior colleges to the junior year of the university, Since junior college students can live at home and find part-time jobs more easily than in a university town, such colleges make it possible for competent young people without financial resources to get training beyond highschool, The large universities are increasingly anxious to be relieved of the supervision and housing of adolescent students. Junior colleges are bound to mitiply in the next ten years. Other Opportunities Beyond High School than Formal Higher Education. Trade and technical schools, both public and private are growing. It is estimated that the 64,000 now enrolled in such non-collegiate institutions will treble by 1970. Adult education in a host of city-wide and neighborhood institutions and public school systems offers cultural opportunities to adults of all ages, including the grow- ing retired group. Thirty-six million people now participate annually in such programs. It is estimated that this group also will double by 1970. The increasing number of olc people with leisure and the prospect of the shorter work week make an extension of gen- eral adult opportunities necessary and desirable. Workers' education sponsored by unions is steadily increasing as a major factor in adult education. Trained directors and excellent equipment have made such workers’ edu- cation systems as that of the International Ladies Garment Workers outstandin; examples Te of general adult education as well as the source of able and enlightened union leader- shipe The development of extension courses in workers! education of some 0 maj e no s m or univer- sities is a recognition of the importance to the public of this valid adult etioutions The President's Committee on Education Beyond the High School, In 1955, Congress appropriated $150,000, at the request of President Eisenhower +o make recommendations on the state of higher education in the United States, The Pre- sident appointed a Committee to make the study. John D. Connors, Director of the AFL- CIO Department of Education, is a member of the Committee. The premises for which the study was based were outlined as follows in the First Interim Report of the Committee published in November, 1956. 1) The conservation and development of human talent is the proper concern of every citizen and of the Nation. 2) Every individual, regardless of race, creed, color or national origin » shall have the opportunity to develop to the point of optimum development. 3) The assurance of genuine equality of educational opportunity requires that collectively the institutions and agencies responsible for providing this education be characterized by four attributes, enough institutions and teachers, high quality of education, variety of institutions, and accessibility of institutions to students. This report merely stated the problem, in some 11 pages. In the spring of 1957, five regional conferences were held, In duly 1957, a Second Report was published. Since Congress refused to vote further funds in 1957 to continue the work of the committee, this second report is presumably the final one. Ghe general tenor of this report was to the effect that states and local commnities would have to take the major responsibility for financing higher education. It suggested that income tax deductions be extended for students and their families, that state governments make loans to students at low inter- est rates, and the United States Office of Education act as a clearing house for local and state officials on vocational and educational opportunities and scholarships. It recommended federally sponsored "work-study" scholarships as well as an increase in scholarships available at local and state levels. The report urged an average increase in college salaries of at least 75 per cent, and pointed out that college teachers are subsidizing the education of students, some oF whose parents are well able to pay, by an amount double the grand total of contributions to higher education by all the alumni, foundations and endowments combined, In view of its stated purposes, and in view of the problems outlined in these pages it would seem that the Committee had labored mightily and brought forth a mouse. It is to be hoped there will be more constructive recommendations than these before the Com- mittee disbands, Will the Coming Influx of Students Change the Character of our System of Higher Educas tion? At least a doubling of college population is eminent. At least one billion dollars More of public or private funds must be found somewhere to pay for this doubled enroll- ment. The problem cannot be colved by merely cutting down admissions, as already a large share of the best talent is not being trained in colleges. More college teachers must be found, ee rh Will college education become mechanized and impersonal? Will big business extend its control over curricula and free teaching in the United States? What part should the federal government play in solving these problems? yr Decisions on these problems are emerging now. Every local of the American Federa- tion of Teachers should be alert to the social and economic factors involved and should be active and articulate through its local and state federations in influencing these decisions in the making. References: 1) The President's Committee on Education Beyond High School. First Interim Report. November 1956. p. 5. 2) American Council on Education. Report to the President's Committee on Education Beyond High School. April, 1956. pe 82. 3) School Executive, January 1957. pe 61. 4) Fund for the Advancement of Education. Teaching Salaries Then and Now. 1955. pe 32. 5) The President's Committee on Education Beyond High School. Second Report. July 1957. pe 79. 6) National Society for the Study of Education. The Public Junior College. 1955. pe 99 Have you read? American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1595 Massachusetts Avenue, Ne We, Washington 5, D. Ce Woefle, Dael. America's Resources of Specialized Talent. American Council on Education, 1785 Massachusetts Avenue, N. W., Washington, D. C. Background for a National Scholarship Policy, February, 1956. foport to the President's Committee on Education Beyong !ligh School. prity 17506 Higher Education and the Society it Serves. October, 1956. American Federation of Teachers, 28 E. Jackson Boulevard, Chicago , Illinois. Survey of Salaries Paid in Representative American Universities, Training chooks and adqetcliagaa. TGs Council for Financial Aid to Education, 6 5, Sth Street, New York 17, New York College Faculty Salaries, The Closing Door. Department of Labor, Our Manpower Future, 1955-1965. 1957. 9. d for the Advancement of Education, 655 Madi Fun pettor Utilization of College Teaching Bites ie Blueprint for Talent Searching, National Scholars! a int ier = NE» Larsitip Fund and Service for Teachers for Tomorrow. 1955. York 21, New York, Teaching Salaries Then and Now. 1955. They Went to College Early, "valuation Report No, 2. 1957. Inter-university Labor Education Committee, Wisconsin. Mire, Joseph. Labor Education. 1956, 1303 University Avenue, Madison, National Society for the Study of Education, Dlinois. 55th Yearbook, The Public Junior College. 1956, Office of Education, Washington 25, D. C. Directory of Higher Education, 1956 Statistics of Higher Education Faculty, Students and Degrees, 1953-1954. 1956. Receipts, Expenditures and Property, 1953-195k. 1956. Progress in Public Education in the United States of America, 1956-1957. 1957. University of Chicago, Chicago 37, The President's Committee on Education Beyond High School. First Interim Report. November, 1956, Second Report. July, 1957. The President's Committee on Higher Education. Higher Education for American Democracy. 1917. The President's Committee on Scholarships for ltigh School Students, Washington 255 D.C. Guide to Information on Scholarships for High School Students. ic Affairs Pamphlets, 22 E. 38th Street, New York 16, New York So You Didn't Go to College. Noe 249, 1957 iue University, Lafayette, Indiana What Will College Cost?