Standards

Those who believe that American schools are more play than work overlook an important fact: a high school diploma is not a ticket that allows someone to automatically enter a university. Standardized examinations play a decisive role at almost every level of education, especially in the admission to colleges and universities. Students, who wish to go to a good university but only took high school courses that were a "snap," or who spent too much time on extracurricular activities, will have to compete with those who worked hard and took demanding courses.

There are two widely used and nationally-ad­ministered standardized tests for high school stu­dents who wish to attend a college or university. One is the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test), which attempts to measure aptitudes in verbal and math­ematical fields necessary for college work. The other is the ACT (American College Testing pro­gram), which attempts to measure skills in Eng­lish, mathematics, and the social and natural sciences. Both tests are given at specific dates and locations throughout the U.S. by non-profit, non­governmental organizations. The tests are used by universities as standards for comparison, but are not in any way "official." Each year, the SAT is taken by some two mil­lion high school students. One million of these students are in their last year of high school. Another million are in their next-to-last year. The ACT, more commonly used in the western part of the U.S., is taken each year by another million high school students. With so many different types of high schools and programs, with so many differences in subjects and standards, these tests provide common, nationwide measuring sticks. Many universities publish the average scores achieved on these tests by the students they admit. This indicates the "quality" or level of ability expected of those who apply.

Similar testing programs exist at higher levels, as well. Someone who has already finished four years of university and wishes to go to a law or medical school is also required to take stand­ardized tests. These tests have been agreed upon by the various law and medical schools and are administered nationwide at scheduled times. Like the SAT or ACT, these tests are not official or governmentally controlled. Other examinations, however, are official and usually quite difficult. For example, even after someone has studied for many years and earned a medical degree from a university, this still does not mean that he or she can begin to practice in the U.S. The individual states require still further examinations.

Other pressures also operate at the university level. Most universities require mid-semester and final (end-of-semester) examinations. It is possible, as a great many students have learned, to "flunk out" of a university, which is to be asked to leave because of poor grades. And most students who have scholarships must maintain a certain grade average to keep their scholarships. Since tuition fees alone can be rather high (ranging from over $10,000 for an academic year at Harvard or Yale to under $ 1,000 at small public institutions) at most colleges and universities, a large number of students hold jobs besides studying. These part-time jobs may be either "on campus" (in the dormitories, cafeterias, students services, in research, and in teaching and tutoring jobs) or "off campus" (with local firms and busi­nesses, in offices, etc.). In this way, for example, more than half of all students at Stanford Univer­sity earn a significant part of their college expen­ses during the school year. In addition, there are work-study programs at a number of universities, and financial assistance programs which are pro­vided by the states and the federal government. At Alaska Pacific University, for instance, about 71 percent of all students receive aid through the university, and 15 percent work part-time on cam­pus. At Harvard about 40 percent of all students receive scholarships, and the average scholarship at Stanford is $4,500 per year. Students who must work as well as study are the rule rather than the exception. Students also cannot simply move from one university to another, or trade places with other students. Before changing to another university, students must first have been accepted by the new university and have met that univer­sity's admission requirements.

The competition and pressures at many univer­sities, especially at the higher, "graduate" levels, are not pleasant. Nor are they evident in the popular picture of "campus life." However, this system has been highly successful in producing scholars who are consistently at the top or near the top of their fields internationally. One indica­tion of this can be seen by looking at the textbooks or professional journals used and read in foreign universities and noting the authors, where they teach and where they were trained.

Another indication, less precise perhaps, is the number of Americans who have won Nobel Prizes. Americans have won 146 Nobel Prizes in the sciences - physics, chemistry, and physiology or medicine - since the awards were first given in 1901. This represents 38.5 percent of all recip­ients. The next closest country is Great Britain, with 63 Nobel Prizes. If the U.S. is still distant from the aim of educating everyone well, it has at least done a good job with many.