N.E. Colleges Study Monro Proposal To End Scholarship Bidding Abuses

An explanation of exactly how Harvard determines the size of stipends is on page three of this issue.

Harvard and 13 other New England colleges, in an attempt to end high-pressure intercollegiate academic scholarship competition and bring back the emphasis on financial need, are studying a plan which would set up a clearing house for determining stipends, it was learned yesterday.

A three-man committee-including President Nathan M. Pusey--is considering the proposal of John U. Monro '34, Director of the Financial Aid Center, urging the colleges to agree on a common policy for deciding the exact amount of financial aid an applicant needs.

The Monro plan was discussed at an October 6 meeting of the 14 New England schools in Brunswick, Maine. At that time a committee of Pusey, Dartmouth President John Sloane Dickey, and Amherst President Charles W. Cole, was appointed to study the problem and report back. The Harvard representatives at the Brunswick meeting were Pusey, Dean Bundy and Director of Admissions Wilbur J. Bender '27.

No deadline has been set for the committee's report.

If the plan is put through, the colleges would probably institute some sort of clearing house for scholarship applications. This would be designed mainly for cases in which one candidate applies to several schools, with the possibility of competitive bidding by various colleges.

Briefly, this is what has caused the sudden concern.

The college administrations feel that they are currently bidding for brilliant students just as they might bid for good halfbacks. In an attempt to gain eventual prestige they are trying to lure in students who they feel will eventually make "Who's Who."

This competition started with the Harvard National Scholarships and it has extended principally to the small colleges. Authorities have been tempted to make a student's need a secondary consideration, and also let an attempt at geographical distribution outweigh the needs of often more worthy Eastern students.

College presidents contacted last night agreed that this cut-throat competition has gone too far. They felt reorganization of the scholarship set-up was needed badly.

Pusey and Bundy stated that "Harvard certainly agrees that it's something we want to go ahead on."

Henry Wriston, president of Brown said yesterday, "We think it's a good move. We're all getting multiple applica- tions since the College Board changed its rule. We all have slightly different ways of calculating financial need but with all these applications, we need a co-operative arrangement to set need. "And it also is hard on the applicant with a different set of forms from everyone."

Wesleyan President in Favor

Wesleyan President Victor Butterfield also lauded the project, asserting, "I think it's an excellent idea."

"It would provide a working basis for equitable judgment of need. And it would show the public that scholarships are for people who need them and not something to be scrambled for.

"There seems to be enough interest in the program to justify hopes for something definite soon," he added.

James S. Coles, Bowdoin President, termed the idea "a very fine suggestion. I think the colleges, particularly New England colleges should take a position of leadership. It's very encouraging that colleges are talking about the problem and studying it," Coles said. "It's a good thing to adjust our scholarship resources to do the most good."

Competition "Undignified"

Charging that the present scholarship competition has became "undignified," Amherst president Charles W. Cole stated the present idea is in too nebulous a state right now for any definite comment.

Besides Harvard, Wesleyan, Amherst, Brown, and Bowdoin, the New England College group includes Dartmouth, Middlebury, Colby, Williams, Tufts, Clark, Vermont, Yale, and Trinity. Yale president A. Whitney Griswold was unavailable for comment last night