Status of University Students in Relation to High-School Courses

Abstract

It is customary for colleges and universities either to require or to recommend certain specific academic preparatory courses. The purpose of this study is to compare the university scholar ship record of students who have had specified high-school courses with the record of those who have not met this requirement. The specified courses are as follows : English, three years ; United States history, one year; mathematics, two years; physics or chemistry, one year; foreign language, two years; additional mathematics or foreign language, one year; and two additional years chosen from English, mathematics, foreign language, his tory, natural science, and drawing?a total of 12 specified units. The report submitted herewith is based on data compiled from the record cards of 369 Freshmen who entered the College of Letters and Science, University of California, Southern Branch, in September, 1923. For the purpose of this study the records of students whose names began with A to L, inclusive, were included with the following exceptions : students with advanced standing, special students, and students who left without re ceiving first-semester grades. Students' records were included whether or not they were attending the university at the time the study was made. In fact, of the 369 students it was found that 124 or practically one-third were no longer in attendance. The academic subjects completed in high school were deter mined by direct comparison of each student's record card with the proposed requirements, that is, with the twelve-unit pro gram described above. On this basis it was found that 203, or 55 percent, of the students had completed the twelve specified academic units. The remaining 166 (45 percent) had fallen short of the specified units in one or more particulars. A record 36