# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1950_S1007
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

SEMINARIES AND COLLEGES 309

4. The various colleges of Synod, after evaluating their own
needs, should seek to co-ordinate and systematize financial
aid to the students through Student Aid Committees ap-
pointed by the respective presidents. These committees
would control campus loan and employment arrangements
and work closely with District student aid funds for the

_ benefit both of the school and the Church.

5. The program of student aid should always be associated with
the counseling arrangements at our schools. It is not some-
thing by itself, but a part of the counseling function. It
should therefore be established in policy, but flexible as an
instrument of service to the growth and assistance of the
students. A

6. The synodical colleges should encourage the establishment 3
of a clearinghouse for exchange of information on student 4
aid and maintenance of general policies in the best interest a
of the Church as a whole. It is suggested that the office of ;
the executive secretary of the Board for Higher Education
be expanded to meet this need.

The District Student Aid Funds

In addition to accumulating information on the student aid
E. Program which is followed by other church bodies, the survey
.. director secured information directly from the synodical Districts
by means of a questionnaire which dealt with questions of organiza-
tion, administration, funds received and disbursed, the beneficiaries,
criteria of awards, contacts after awards, and general evaluation.
As a result of this attempt to measure the efficiency of the present
§ 6. District aid system, 22 Districts supplied the details indicated.
There was a large number of optimistic reports; however, there
is reason to believe that all Districts would welcome suggestions
. for improvement. The areas most frequently mentioned in replies
© to the questionnaire indicated a desire for improvement in the
techniques of follow-up in the procedure, centralization of data,
and an exchange of information. In this connection a long list of
constructive suggestions was also received from the District aid
authorities.

Areas of Weakness
Wherever feasible, a detailed report and discussion has been
Included in the materials presented to the college presidents and
to the District aid officers; however, in order to motivate the
attached recommendations, we should like to list here five general
areas of weakness on which there is quite common consent:

1. Lack of agreement on the function of the student aid system.
The Districts ought to understand more clearly what they
should try to achieve with financial assistance for students.
At present some regard their function as a sort of loan

service, others as a kind of scholarship, still others as a “give
away” fund, with strings attached. Some restrict their aid