Selecting Graduate Students

Abstract

One of the difficult problems confronting graduate schools in institutions of higher learning is that of developing effective admission procedures. This problem has become more acute with the rapid increase in the number of students seeking advanced training. During the past few decades enrollments in graduate schools have more than doubled each decade. Whereas in 1900 there were fewer than six thousand students enrolled in graduate schools, in 1937 there were approximately eighty thousand. In the field of teacher education it is quite generally recognized that the usual four-year college program is no longer adequate to provide the cultural and professional education needed by teachers today. Teachers of experience on all levels of school work feel that graduate study is not only helpful but essential if they are to keep abreast of the times and are to grow professionally. The Master's degree is rapidly being considered a prerequisite for teaching. It is reasonable to expect that as the number of students who desire to pursue graduate work increases, there will be a corresponding increase in the variability of the group applying for admission. By permitting mediocre and inadequately prepared students to undertake graduate work, injustice is done not only to the students but to society as well. It is obviously unfair to encourage young people to embark upon graduate study unless they are intellectually qualified for it, unless their undergraduate preparation is of such character as to make further study profitable, and unless they possess essential personality characteristics. Moreover, society has a right to expect of those to whom advanced degrees are granted a type of leadership and scholarship which is probably beyond the possibility of achievement for some who seek admission to graduate schools. Therefore, graduate schools face the problem of developing more selective admission procedures and of encouraging only those to continue for whom there is reasonable probability of success. If this generalization is sound, how can it be applied? In the study of this problem the committee on admissions of the graduate school with which the writer is associated desired information concerning admission policies and practices in other schools. This paper presents some of the major findings of the investigation. By means of questionnaires, bulletins, and through interviews with deans, information was secured from 88 graduate schools on such questions as: What is the nature of the administrative setup for admitting students to graduate schools? What factors are considered in examining applications for admissions? What attention is given to the students' preparation in the fields in which they wish to pursue graduate work? These are but a few of the questions which arise in any attempt to develop satisfactory methods of dealing with the problem of admission. The 88 institutions are divided almost equally between state and private institutions. Twenty-seven are members of the Association of American Universities, and all are recognized by this association. The interest in improving admission procedures is indicated by the fact that responses came from 83 per cent of the institutions invited to participate. One of the questions asked in this survey was: What is the nature of the administrative setup for admitting students to the graduate school in your institution? A summary of the responses of the 88 schools participating is given here: A. Admission determined by the central admissions office for the entire university - 19 Central admissions office, dean of the graduate school, and department head - 2 Central admissions office and a committee of the graduate school - 2 Central admissions office and department head - 1 Central admissions office, committee of the graduate school, and dean of graduate school - 1 Central admissions office and dean of the graduate school (irregular cases determined by committee of graduate school) - 1 B. …