EDUCATION AIDED BY WORK OF FOUNDATIONS

"The educational foundations through their careful selection of beneficiaries, have encouraged the elevation of university and college standards," declared Dr. Clyde Furst, when interviewed recently by a CRIMSON reporter. Dr. Furst, who is secretary of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching was one of the principal speakers at the annual meeting of the Harvard Teachers' Association, which was held here recently.

"The fact that every institution knows that if it does not keep up with the generally recognized standards of education, if will receive no help from any philanthropy," he continued, "is a great force in making colleges and schools genuinely live up to the highest standards. Another great service which the endowed philanthropies can do, is to relieve college faculties from worry about the financial resources of their institutions, so that they may give more attention to educational problems.

"Of course, funds are necessary for making experiments in education, as well as for the regular maintenance of our institutions," continued Dr. Furst. "As the scientists have discovered, no improvements can be made without experimentation. In this way, the educational foundations have done a great deal to further progress. Thus, adequate funds have made it possible for the General Education Board to demonstrate, in various southern states, the effect on education of improvement in agriculture and economic conditions.

Work Judged by Results

"Philanthropies of this sort," explained Dr. Furst, "have a detachment and an independence that make possible a devotion to the general good, without regard to local or competitive restrictions. Such large institutions must not allow themselves to be moved by hasty or unnecessary criticism. They are judged solely on results, and they must satisfy popular opinion by results alone.

"Another of the great tasks which educational endowments have set for themselves is the conduct of studies that governmental agencies do not feel competent to undertake for themselves. The conclusive report on "Negro Education," published by the United States Bureau of Education in 1917 was due to the work of one of these funds. In a great many other cases, the work of the endowment funds has been of the most vital assistance to governmental agencies in preparing reports and carrying on investigations in regard to present-day educational problems.

Work Begun From Private Fund

"Almost everything which the government now does to advance education was originally begun by some privately endowed organization. The Smithsonian Institution, which is a private enterprise, originated the United States Astrophysical Observatory, the National Museum, the Weather Bureau, and several other bureaus which have become important parts of our governmental machinery. If is such work as this to which the educational foundations have dedicated themselves:--not only to meet real public needs, and to give substantial aid to educational institutions, but to induce others to do the same, and to spun on the institutions themselves to better efforts to live up to the best standards to civilization."