Using the figures presented in the tabulation as a basis, heavy losses were suffered by the nine colleges in the students making up the class of 1928. The number of freshmen enrolled in 1924 amounted to 856 of which 303 were men and 553 were women. Of this total, but 167 received degrees in 1928 of which 94 were men and 73 were women. The number of students who failed to remain at college to graduate totaled 689 which showed a mortality of 80.5 per cent. Loss of men students was 209, or 69 per cent, and of women students 480, or 86.8 per cent. This heavy mortality of women students was due chiefly to the fact that many of them pursued normal-school courses and left college at the end of the two years upon completion of the work. A further analysis of the table indicates that the greatest loss of students occurred in the freshman year, the proportion being 38 per cent, while in the sophomore year the mortality was 22 per cent. Losses in the junior and senior years were comparatively small. Such serious student mortality as exists in the negro land-grant colleges should be the subject of a careful study by the institutions. Economic conditions are in part responsible for the failure of a large number of students to continue their college work. A remedy for this condition is the granting of scholarships. Another important factor in the heavy student mortality is poor scholarship. Although the institutions failed to furnish complete information upon the subject, little doubt exists that this is one of the principal reasons that many of the students leave college. Poor scholarship may be traced partially to the lack of proper preparation, which involves the improvement of the high schools that supply the colleges with students and a more careful scrutiny of candidates seeking admissions. Reports were received from nine institutions on the proportion of students dropped on account of poor scholarship.

In the case of one college 20 per cent of the students fail in their work, in a second 8 per cent, in a third 6 per cent, in a fourth 5 per cent, and in a fifth 4 per cent. The remainder fixed the proportion of students dropped because of poor scholarship from 1.4 to 2.5 per cent. Two of the colleges do not permit the return of students who have been eliminated for lack of scholarship, while in six cases they are allowed to return either the following semester or school year. There is one institution that decides the question of the return of students who have failed on the individual merits of the case.

Degrees and Certificates

The number of degrees granted in course by the negro land-grant colleges as compared with the total enrollment is small, indicating that only a minor proportion of the students remain to complete their college work. As most of the institutions specialize in education, there is a considerable volume of certificates received by students for 2-year normal-school work. Six of the colleges granted no degrees in 1928. In Table 23 are presented the number of different degrees and certificates granted by each institution for this year.

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TABLE 23.-Degrees and certificates granted in negro land-grant colleges in 1928

As shown by the tabulation, a total of 296 degrees was granted by 11 of the institutions in 1928. While seven different types of degrees are awarded by the colleges, by far the greater proportion is either bachelor of arts or bachelor of science degrees. Seven institutions granted bachelor of arts degrees, the total being 60. The largest award by any college was 18, while in the remainder the number varied from 9 to 3. Bachelor of science degrees were granted by 9 institutions and exceeded in number all other types of degrees. The total was 200 of which 100 were awarded by one institution and 42 by another. In the remaining 7 colleges the number ranged from 13 to 5. Only two colleges granted bachelor of science degrees in agriculture, the number being 5 in one and 7 in the other, while bachelors' degrees in mechanics and home economics were awarded by 2 other institutions. Two bachelor of arts degrees in business education, 6 bachelor of arts degrees in education, 1 bachelor of science degree in education, and 2 bachelor of science degrees in music were granted by another college. Of the total number of degrees, 53 per cent were granted to men students and 47 per cent to women students.

Certificates granted by the negro land-grant colleges in 1928 totaled 409. All of the institutions with three exceptions awarded certificates. One institution granted as high as 138 certificates. There were three other colleges that granted between 40 and 50 certificates, one between 30 and 40, two between 20 and 30, four between 10 and 20, and three fewer than 10. Authority for granting of degrees or certificates varies in the different colleges. In six institutions the board of trustees authorizes the awarding of degrees at their regular sessions. This authority is delegated to the president in 3 colleges, to the president and a committee in 1, to the president and the faculty in 1, to the local administration in 1, and to the classification committee in 1.

Summer Sessions

The operation of summer sessions is one of the important educational services rendered by the negro land-grant colleges to their States.

With the work largely concentrated in education, the institutions provide opportunity for negro public-school teachers to secure additional training during their summer vacation. All the colleges with one exception conduct summer sessions. Figures have already been presented on the enrollments which indicate that attendance at the schools is very large.

The summer session is administered by the president of the institution in 11 cases, by the dean of the college of arts and science in 2, by the dean of the teacher training in 1, and by a special director in 2. Three of the colleges report that the summer session is operated as a separate enterprise from the regular college program. In 11 others it is conducted as a part of the collegiate work of the institutions. Two colleges did not submit information on this point. Regular college credit is allowed students attending in the summer sessions in most instances. The maximum number of semester hours for which the student may register varies in the different schools, depending on the length of the summer session. The amount ranges from 8 semester hours in the 5-weeks summer session to 13 hours in the 8-weeks summer session. The teaching staff is fairly well organized in the summer schools, the number of instructors being sufficient to meet the needs. In some cases the teachers are lacking in training. An inquiry into the subject revealed that the academic standing of the work in the summer session of eight institutions. is on the same basis as the regular college work while in the seven others a difference exists. The negro land-grant colleges do not exchange professors for summer-session work, a practice which would prove mutually beneficial both to the teachers and the students.

Chapter V. Conclusions and Recommendations

In the foregoing chapters the present status of the 17 negro landgrant colleges has been described in its broader aspects. Some comparisons have been made showing tendencies of growth. From the standpoint of the future of these institutions it is necessary to consider the influences that have a bearing on their development and on the improvement of their service.

Because of the conditions under which the institutions were established and under which they have grown, the program of the negro land-grant colleges constitutes a unique and highly important educational experiment. Instead of coming into being as the result of a slow and steady period of evolution with educational programs crystallizing after a long period of trial and error and with a large and growing body of well-prepared college students supporting them, the negro land-grant colleges were established for the most part in haste and without an adequate supporting student body. For years the attempt to bring the negro land-grant colleges to the full stature of agricultural and mechanical colleges has failed because of an inadequate medium in which to grow and because of artificial remedies used to develop them.

The negro land-grant colleges have nevertheless gained strength and prestige. It still remains to be seen whether collegiate curricula strongly infused with vocational courses can prove their worth as a compromise between the stricter types of professional courses in agriculture and the mechanic arts and those purely vocational in character. The experiment is not the same for each institution or for each State.

During the past decade the negro land-grant colleges became conscious of the need for higher and more uniform concepts of collegiate training as they apply to the major training divisions. This has been brought about by the demands for standardized courses in teacher training and premedical work and by the desire to bring technical training to the same level as that given in the white landgrant colleges. Having become conscious of their responsibilities as colleges the program for the coming decade must be one of diversification, not on the basis of opinions or traditional views, but rather

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