# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1950_S922
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

224 SEMINARIES AND COLLEGES

should examine all colleges and universities which are offering.
a program which includes courses in all or most of the general
education fields, even though the institution itself might have a4
highly specialized purpose.

We quote the following from a letter of Manning M. Pattillo,
Jr., assistant secretary of the Commission on Colleges and Uni- q
versities of the North Central Association of Colleges and Second- 4
ary Schools: ;

“The North Central Association does not have regulations 3
governing the acceptance of credits for admission or by transfer 4
from secondary or higher institutions. This means that a member 4
institution or an institution seeking membership in the Association 7
is not required to accept students only from accredited institutions. @
The important consideration is that the admissions policy of a col= 4
lege be consistent with its purposes and the kind of curriculum
offered. The acceptance by a senior college of large numbers of
students from unaccredited junior colleges would not reflect un-
favorably upon the senior college, so far as this Association is coz
cerned, provided the admissions. policy supplied the senior college
with students whose preparation was appropriate to the prograri
upon which they were embarking in the senior institution. lg

“The present policy with respect to the eligibility for accredita:
tion of institutions having highly specialized purposes is not cl al
cut, and I cannot predict with certainty how this policy woul
affect a senior college of the type you are considering. As matters:
stand at the present time, however, I believe the Board of Review.
would be willing to accept the application of such a college, if that
college were offering a program that included courses in all or
most of the following fields: the fine arts, the biological sciences
social sciences, languages and literature, philosophy and related:
subjects, and the physical sciences. I believe the Board would take
the position that general education was a ‘major function’ of. sw
a college and that the college would be eligible to apply for acs.
creditation, even though the two-year unit were preparing men
primarily for theological seminaries... . The mere fact of a two
year senior college with a limited number of majors would not
affect eligibility, nor would it create insuperable difficulties in
arranging a fair examination for the institution,”

The Board for Higher Education is aware of many factors
which make it desirable (and, in the case of the teachers’ col
leges, mandatory) to seek regional accreditation for our collegeg,
We are aware, also, of the immense values inherent in the broai
educational experience which the regional accrediting agencies
make available for our use. However, the Board is prepared
keep clearly in view that the direct, primary, and unalterabt
objective of our educational institutions must be the training #é
professional workers to satisfy the needs of: the Church.. ‘Tht
Board certainly intends to continue its earnest efforts toward. acs
creditation of all synodical colleges and seminaries, but in. supers
vising the organization and establishment of the senior college}