President signs education bill

One of the ironies of the $3.6 billion higher education bill that President Johnson signed on 3 November is that higher education got almost exactly what it asked for but considerably less than what Congress was willing to provide. Testifying before Congress earlier in the year, The American Council for Education and other groups expressed the view that, because of the Vietnam situation, it was reasonable to fund higher education programs, and in particular the facilities programs, at roughly the same levels as last year. This view was questioned by Senators Wayne Morse (D‐Ore.), Robert Kennedy (D‐N.Y.) and Ralph Yarborough (D‐Tex.), who rebuked higher‐education spokesmen for rubberstamping the administration’s proposals. Tell us what you need, not what is politically feasible, the senators said to them, in effect. Nevertheless ACE maintained its position that the figures submitted were reasonable and were minimal for maintaining a satisfactory program in higher education throughout the country. When Congress, however, asked ACE to submit estimates on sums necessary for 1968 and 1969, the Council considerably boosted its figures over 1967.

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