# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1950_S177
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

SEMINARIES AND COLLEGES 175

: . The combination of having a central loca-
Exhibit 6, Page echo, the fact that the Fort Wayne Lutheran
tion for 1 is already on the very campus of the Concordia Col-
high ee the fact that the college can make a dormitory and din-
lege, available for boarding students who would otherwise
ing ane to get their high school training in a Lutheran high
be nt simply offers an ideal combination which can be duplicated
schoo else in the Missouri Synod and which could not be created
nore at anything but prohibitive cost.

IncREASED Propucrion

It should be noted also that the possibility of securing 50 addi-
tional ministerial graduates from one two-year college is a pro-
cedure which merits the most careful evaluation. If we were to
attempt to get this increase of production through a six-year pro-
gram, it would require a minimum of 350 additional students to
fill the six-year arrangement and to ultimately produce the 50
additional graduates annually. At best, this process would involve
an operating cost of at least $100,000 per year. The difference
appears dramatically when the problem is analyzed on the basis
of current costs:

If the cost of producing a graduate from the preparatory in-
stitutions is computed at $300 per student per year (actually the
average cost was higher last year), this would mean that the grad-
uates of the junior college would cost $600 per student instead of
$1,800 per student as at present. Under present circumstances the
average operating cost to Synod of the Fort Wayne institution
approximates $75,000 per year, 250 students being figured at $300
each. It will readily be seen that in six years this cost would total
$450,000 to produce approximately 210 graduates. Under a junior
college plan, if we could assume 200 students at a cost of $300 per
student, the annual operating cost would equal $60,000 and a total
for the six years would equal only $360,000 but would produce
about 500 graduates. If the product can be satisfactory, this
arrangement would produce approximately 140% more graduates
for approximately 20% lower cost. This is a gross saving. The
net would be less by the amount involved in the scholarships
paid for Lutheran high school students and costs of any necessary
recruitment program. ; . :

ADJUSTMENT WILL TaKE TiME
It should be remembered that it will take a minimum of five .
years to complete the necessary adjustments. Even if. the full :
Program could begin in 1951‘ with the elimination of the freshman
high school class, it would be 1955 before the junior college were
Set up without any high school classes, and it would be 1956 be- .