DARTMOUTH AMONG FIRST AMERICAN COLLEGES

Dartmouth is now expertly recognized as among the 59 first class colleges in the United States. That, at any rate, is the information derived from the newspapers. The authority for the classification is President Kendric C. Babcock of the University of Arizona, who has been making a study of American colleges on behalf of the government. The basis of his judgment appears to have been the value of the bachelor's degree when presented at the foremost graduate schools. In view of the fact that a very small proportion of college bachelors present themselves at the university graduate schools, the validity of the basis may perhaps be questioned. But taking it for what it is worth, there is considerable satisfaction in the high rank given to Dartmouth.

President Babcock divides American colleges into four classes. Of these 59 occupy the first class, 161 the second, 84 the third, and 401 the fourth. In the first class are 15 New England institutions ; a rather preponderating proportion, which seems to justify New England's pride in her educational advantages. Those, however, who do not wish to aim too high will find 13 second class colleges and one third, class college in the same territory. Fourth class institutions, however, must be sought outside the pale of the Puritan.

The next step in this process of classification will, no doubt, be to seek divisions within divisions. For that a new basis will probably have to be devised since the present definition of a first class institution is thus rather broadly stated as,

"An institution whose graduates would ordinarily be able to take a master's degree in any of the larger graduate schools in one year after receiving the bachelor's degree, without doing more than the amount of work regularly prescribed for such higher degree."