# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1950_S956
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

258 SEMINARIES AND COLLEGES

If this plan could be applied at all synodical colleges, a great
saving would accrue to Synod because of the fact that Synod would!
no longer have the expense of training large numbers of studen
for one or two years and then losing them. The Board’s studi
show that over a period of ten years the average annual losgf
sustained when classes moved from the freshman to the sophomore
year is 20%; from the sophomore to the junior year 15%; from theg
junior to the senior year 8%; and from the senior year to the .
freshman college year 30%. (These are not net decreases in class.j
enrollments, since advanced standing registrations annually replace.#
some of the losses.) Under the plan proposed here, Synod would 4
pay only for those students who actually matriculate in the college @
department and would then pay only on a year-by-year basis for.
students who actually progress from class to class. Very consid-
erable savings should result from such an arrangement. ;.

This recommendation also has the advantage of avoiding every:
connotation of “indigency” with reference to the students who re
ceive the refunds. There is no condition attached to the subsidy §
except that the student enroll in the professional college and that
he make satisfactory academic, cultural, and spiritual progress to:
merit readmission annually at the next higher level.

The effect upon the enrollment of the Lutheran high schoo.
should be quite satisfactory. It will be a distinct advantage for the:
student who has the ministerial or teaching profession in mind to..
enroll in a Lutheran high school rather than in a public high schoo!
Although he could secure the same course content in a public high ;
school, with the exception of the religion courses, it would be to -4

-the student’s advantage to choose a Lutheran high school because. :
he would receive no tuition grant at the synodical college if he is’
graduated from a secular high school. At the same time the high
school has not postponed payment of the fees and is not placed in..¥
the embarrassing position of attempting to collect “back tuition”
if the student finds it impossible to continue his enrollment as a. 3
pre-professional student. oa

Finally, the plan proposed is also entirely equitable, since it
compensates approximately for tuition costs paid by the student
while attending a Christian secondary school preparatory to enter-
ing the teaching or preaching ministry. Such costs are not i
curred by those who attend public high schools; nor is any tuition
paid in the synodical high schools. at

Another important consideration, in the opinion of the Board;.:#
is the conviction that Lutheran high schools should remain locally:
controlled educational agencies. If Synod were to undertake some
type of direct subsidy payment to the school, there would always
be the possibility of requiring some degree of control. It appears
wise to avoid this possibility entirely,