CHAPTER XXV.

ADMISSION TO COLLEGE BY CERTIFICATE.

The question of requirements for admission to college is receiving considerable attention at the present time from educators and educational journals and magazines. This is evidenced by the large number of articles on the subject published in the periodicals and by the formation of associations of colleges and secondary schools, the leading objects of such associations being to secure uniformity in admission requirements and to improve the standard of collegiate as well as secondary education. One of the most important educational publications bearing upon the subject is the report of the Committee of Ten on secondary school studies. The intention of the Committee of Ten, in formulating the four different courses of study recommended in the report, was to provide courses of study for pupils who can not take a college course, and to provide courses, the completion of which could and should be accepted by the universities and colleges for admission to corresponding courses in such institutions, believing "that this close articulation between the secondary schools and the higher institutions would be advantageous alike for the schools, the colleges, and the country." That this report has borne fruit is shown by the fact that the courses of study recommended therein have been adopted with modifications by some of the secondary schools and by preparatory departments of colleges. There is, however, still a wide divergence in the courses of study of secondary schools as well as in the requirements for admission to the freshman classes of the various universities and colleges of the country. These facts have thus far rendered it impossible for all of the institutions to agree upon uniform entrance requirements or upon uniform lists of accredited or approved schools, but it can not be doubted that the tendency is in this direction. This may be seen by examining the lists of schools accredited or approved by the several institutions given on the following pages. The two general methods of admission to the freshman class of colleges at the present time are by examination and by certificate. To these may be added another method which is in use only by institutions maintaining preparatory departments. Such institutions admit students to the freshman class who have completed a course of study in their respective preparatory departments.

Prior to the year 1871 the plan of special examination by college authorities was in almost universal use by the better class of colleges, but since that date the plan of admitting students upon certificates of public, high, and private preparatory schools has been inaugurated, and received a remarkable impetus. This movement was started by the University of Michigan, and has now been adopted by all of the State universities of the North Central and Western Divisions, as well as by some of the State institutions of the other divisions, and by a large number of the denominational and other private institutions of the country. The adoption of the certificate system by State institutions has generally been followed by the adoption of the same or a similar plan by other institutions in those States. The Michigan plan, adopted in 1871 and given in detail in the following pages, provides for an examination of the courses of study and methods of instruction of the schools, to be approved by a committee of the faculty of the university. In Indiana the high schools of

certain grades are commissioned by the State board of education, and their graduates are admitted to the State institutions.

The purpose of the system of admission by certificate, when inaugurated by the University of Michigan, and its advantages, as stated by Dr. Charles Kendall Adams, president of the University of Wisconsin, in the Educational Review for June, 1893, are as follows:

At the time the system of admitting students on certificate was adopted at the University of Michigan, now more than twenty years ago, the purpose was to bind the university and the preparatory schools of the State into a closer alliance for the purpose of mutual helpfulness. A somewhat thorough study of the systems of admitting students in other countries to the higher institutions of learning led to the belief that a carefully guarded method by which pupils of approved schools should be admitted without examination would prove beneficial to the schools as well as to the university. The system was constructed in such a way as to throw upon the university the responsibility of examining the school, and also to throw upon the individual school the responsibility for the preparation of the students admitted. After five years of trial an examination of the records showed that the standing of students admitted by certificate was considerably higher than the standing of those admitted by examination. There seemed, moreover, to be conclusive evidence that the schools were greatly benefited by the arrangement. After the examination of a school its weak places were pointed out to the school board, and it was generally found that the boards were very willing to make any changes suggested. I have been from the first an earnest believer in the system, and I believe that history has fully justified the predictions of those who had to do with its first introduction in Michigan. The advantages of it are threefold:

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In the first place, it relieves the officers of the university of the labor of the preliminary examinations. This point should not receive serious consideration, if it is certain that the examinations so conducted are likely to secure a better grade of scholarship. But to suppose that that is the case would be to ignore or defy the experience of more than twenty years.

In the second place, a very great advantage is experienced by the preparatory school. The visit of the committee from the university is an event looked forward to as an affair of great importance to the teachers and pupils. The examination, when properly conducted, includes an inspection of the class work of every teacher and a careful report upon the nature of the work done. Such a visit is, and must be, of the very greatest importance to the school in question.

The third advantage is in the fact that all the pupils become accustomed to thinking that the academy or high school is not the end of a good education. A large number who would otherwise complete their school days at the end of the high school course are fired with a desire to go forward to a further term of study in a college or university.

These considerations, especially the second and third, are advantages of great importance, and I know of no disadvantages from the system that can, in any true sense, be regarded as of counterbalancing significance.

President Northrop, of the University of Minnesota, states that the advantages of the system are: "(1) It raises the grade of the preparatory schools; (2) it gives us students better prepared for university work; (3) it does away with an immense amount of work and worry incident to examinations; (4) it gives us better results from the student when he is once in the university."

No attempt has been made to obtain expressions of opinion concerning the certificate system from the various institutions of the country, but the few State institutions which publish annual reports commend the system for the close relation which is established between the universities and the common school systems of the States, as well as for the well-prepared students furnished thereby. The annual catalogues show that the system has now been adopted, in some form or other, by 42 State universities and agricultural and mechanical colleges, and by about 150 other institutions. This shows that, while some of the more conservative institutions of the country, especially in the East, still adhere strictly to the method of examination by college authorities, the certificate system is continually gaining ground. Some of the institutions surround the system with various safeguards to insure against its abuse. In nearly all of them admission by certificate is probationary—that is, the

1 Educational Review, February, 1893.

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student is admitted to the freshman class on the condition that he is able to maintain a satisfactory standing in his class during a term, or, in some cases, the entire freshman year. Some provide that if a school sends several ill-prepared students the privilege of sending students on certificate is taken from such school, and in nearly all cases the privilege is limited to three years, when a school may be reexamined in order to ascertain whether it shall continue to be considered as an approved or accredited school. The certificates of the principals must generally show the nature of the course of study completed, with a statement that in the principal's opinion the student is able to maintain the studies of the course for which he is an applicant. Some of the institutions require the certificate to show each branch of study pursued, the text-books studied, the time spent thereon, as well as the standing attained by the student. Only a few of the colleges admit students on diplomas unaccompanied by certificates.

In the following pages will be found statements, gleaned from annual catalogues, concerning the conditions under which schools are accredited or approved and students therefrom admitted to the several universities and colleges. The list of schools approved by each institution is given, so far as possible, in connection with such institution. The material collected is presented under several different heads,

as follows:

I. State institutions.

II. Private and denominational institutions.

III. List of additional institutions admitting students upon presentation of certificates from approved high schools and academies, and which do not publish a list of such schools.

IV. Institutions accepting certificates or diplomas of the regents of the University of the State of New York.

V. Institutions admitting students upon presentation of diploma or certificate from approved high schools or academies, and which do not publish a list of such schools.

I. STATE INSTITUTIONS.

University of Alabama, University, Ala.-Any school of the State of Alabama for boys and young men whose course of study comprises the requirements for admission into the freshman class in any course of the university may, upon written application of the principal, submitting curriculum of study, be declared by the president and faculty of the university a university auxiliary school, and be awarded a certificate to that effect. Any young man, of the age required for admission shall, upon presentation of a certificate signed by the principal of a university anxiliary school, be admitted into the freshman class. The auxiliary schools are: State normal college, Florence; University high school, Tuscaloosa; Marengo Military Academy, Demopolis; Livingston Military Academy, Livingston; University school, Montgomery; Greenville public school; Brundidge high school; Millwood school, Anniston; University Military School, Mobile; University Military School, Clanton; South Highland Academy, Birmingham; Butler high school; Huntsville Male Academy; Prattville Academy; Birmingham high school; Lafayette College; Mount Willing high school; Talladega Military Academy.

Arkansas Industrial University, Fayetteville, Ark.-Any high school or academy whose course of instruction covers all the branches requisite for admission to the university may be placed upon the accredited list of preparatory schools, after examination and approval by an officer of the university. Graduates of such schools are admitted without examination, and students who are not graduates are admitted upon certificates of proficiency. The accredited schools are: Fort Smith high school, Rogers Academy, Little Rock high school, Marianna Institute, Lonoke high school, Jonesboro State normal school.

University of California, Berkeley, Cal.-Students are admitted on examination and on certificates from accredited schools. The regulations concerning accredited schools are as follows:

"Upon the request of the principal of any public or private school in California whose course of study embraces in kind and extent the subjects required for admission to any college of the university at Berkeley, a committee from the academic senate will visit such school and report upon the quality of the instruction there given. If the report of such committee be favorable, a graduate of the school,

upon the personal recommendation of the principal, accompanied by his certificate that the graduate has satisfactorily completed the studies of the course preparatory to the college he wishes to enter, may, at the discretion of the faculty of such college, be admitted without examination."

There are now 48 accredited schools, as follows: High schools of Alameda, Berkeley, Coronado, Fresno, Grass Valley, Healdsburg, Kern County, Los Angeles, Marysville, Nevada City, Oakland, Pasadena, Petaluma, Pomona, Riverside, Sacramento, Salinas, San Diego, San Francisco (boys', girls'), San Jose, San Rafael, Santa Ana, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Santa Monica, Santa Rosa, Stockton, Vallejo, Ventura, Visalia, Watsonville; Alameda County union high schools (No. 1, Livermore, No. 2, Centerville, No. 3, Haywards); Armijo union high school, Suisun; Belmont school; Boone's University school, Berkeley; Hoitt's Oak Grove school, Millbrae; Lompoc union high school; Mount Tamalpais Military Academy, San Rafael; Oak Mound School, Napa; Redlands union high school; San Bernardino Academy; Santa Barbara Collegiate school; Sonoma Valley union high school; St. Matthew's school, San Mateo; Trinity School, San Francisco.

University of Colorado, Boulder, Colo.-Students are admitted upon certificate of graduation from the following accredited schools: High schools of Denver (District No. 1, District No. 2), Colorado Springs, Greeley, Pueblo (District No. 1, District No. 20), North Denver, Georgetown, Cañon City, Durango, Aspen, Fort Collins, Golden, Grand Junction, Jarvis Hall Military Academy.

Colorado State School of Mines, Golden, Colo.-Certificates of proficiency from approved high schools will be received in lieu of examination.

University of Georgia, Athens, Ga.-Certificates from branch colleges are accepted in lieu of examination only when they show that the student presenting them has completed a course of study identical with that pursued by classes below the one which he wishes to enter.

University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho.-High schools will be accredited only after visitation and recommendation by the president. So far no schools have been accredited. Certificates from the superintendents of the Boise, Lewiston, Moscow, and Pocatello schools, setting forth the industry and proficiency of the applicaut, will be accepted for all requirements for admission covered by such certificate. Clear and definite statements from the teacher who has prepared the applicant for the university, explaining the ground covered and the quality of the work done, will be given due consideration.

University of Illinois, Champaign, Ill.-The faculty, after personal examination, appoints accredited high schools, whose graduates may be admitted to the univer sity without examination. These must be schools of first-rate character, whose course of instruction includes all the studies required for admission to some one of the colleges of the university. If so requested, a member of the faculty will examine a school as to its facilities for teaching, its course and methods of instruction, and the general proficiency shown. The university bears the expense of this examination. If the report is favorable, a certificate of that fact is forwarded, and the name of the school is entered in the published list of high schools accredited by the university. The graduates of these schools are admitted to any course for which their high school studies, as certified by the principal, have prepared them. Annual reports are asked from these schools. A reexamination will be made whenever it may be deemed necessary. The list of accredited schools now embraces 120 high schools and 6 other institutions, as follows:

High schools of Alton, Arcola, Atlanta, Aurora (east, west), Austin, Beardstown, Belvidere (north), Bement, Bloomington, Cairo, Camp Point, Carthage, Canton, Carrollton, Charleston, Chicago (Auburn Park, Englewood, Hyde Park, Lake, Lake View, north division, northwest division, south division, South Chicago, west division), Clinton (Iowa), Danville, Davenport (Iowa), Decatur, Delavan, Dundee, Elgin, Elmwood, Evanston (township high school), Farmer City, Freeport, Galena, Galesburg, Galva, Geneseo, Griggsville, Jacksonville, Jerseyville, Joliet, Kankakee, Keokuk (Iowa), Kewance, La Grange (township high school), Macomb, Mattoon, Maywood, Mendota (west), Moline, Monmonth, Morrison, Nashville, Oak Park, Ottawa (township), Paris, Pekin, Peoria, Pittsfield, Pontiac (township), Princeton (township), Quincy, Rockford, Rock Island, Roodhouse, Shelbyville, Springfield, Sterling (third district), Streator (township), Taylorville (township), Tuscola, Virden, Wilmington, Waukegan, Yorkville, Aledo, Augusta, Batavia (west), Belleville, Cambridge, Champaign, De Kalb, Dixon, East St. Louis, Effingham, Harvard, Hillsboro, Keithsburg, La Salle, Lewistown, Lexington, Le Roy, Lyons (Iowa), Marengo, Mason City, Milford, Monticello, Mound City, Oregon, Paw Paw, Paxton, Peru, Polo, Ridge Farm, Rochelle, Rossville, Savanna, Sparta, Sterling (Wallace), Sullivan, Sycamore, Tolono, Virginia, Warsaw, Washington, Winchester; Chicago manual training school; Chicago English high and manual training school; Western Military Academy, Upper Alton; Jennings Seminary, Aurora; Southern Illinois Normal University, Carbondale; Illinois Normal University, Normal.