Nearly Two-Thirds Passed First College Draft Exam

Forty-one thousand men will be drafted in October, the Defense Department announced yesterday, an increase of 6,820 over the September call. The Marine Corps will get, 5,000, the Army 36,000.

Selective Service announced this week that 62,700, nearly two-thirds of the 165,000 college students who took the May 26 College Qualification Test, received scores above the required 70 percent. About 40 percent of those in the lower half of their classes and 75 percent from the upper half achieved a "passing" grade.

Draft boards are not bound to defer students on the basis of the test or class ranking. The American Council on Education complained this week that some boards were showing prejudice against college students, classifying them 1-A regardless of rankings or test scores.

Brigadier General Louis H. Renfrow, acting director of Selective Service, replied that "the authority of the local board to defer or not to defer must be preserved...But the recent tests and the reports on class standing were designed to be used by local boards as guides.

Defines "Arbitrary Action"

"The local boards which disregard the recommendations of Selective Service and of its advisory board are being arbitrary," General Renfrow declared. "Arbitrary action, here or elsewhere, should not be tolerated."

He recommended appeals in such cases to the state review board, and if necessary to the state and national director, for reference to the Presidential Appeals Board. He pointed out that the appeal can be made by the student or by the college.

General Renfrow said that Selective Service plans to use the testing procedure again next year, but that President Truman and the Bureau of the Budget have yet to approve the plan.

Higher Class, Higher Scores

Educational Testing Service, of Princeton, conducted the tests this year for 339,056 men on four dates. Only the results of the first testing date, May 26, have been tabulated.

Test scores apparently rose with class standing, for only 53 percent of the

freshmen who took the test hit 70 or better, compared with 64 percent of sophomores, 72 percent of juniors, and 77 percent of seniors.

The breakdown of testees shows that 42,500 freshmen took the examination May 26, 53,000 sophomores, 44,000 juniors, 18,500 seniors, and 7,000 graduate students