Yale and Princeton are not alone in making important changes in their scholastic requirements as a result of lessons learned during the last few years. Harvard has joined them during the last few days by announcing that the plan of holding a general examination for the degree of A. B. will be extended to most of the college departments. The idea of a general examination has been tried out for some time on a limited scale in one branch of undergraduate work with excellent results; it is now to be greatly enlarged in its application.

The Harvard proposal is that students shall hereafter, except in a few cases where the nature of the studies makes the plan unnecessary, be given a general examination toward the close of their Senior year and shall be required to display at this examination a reasonable proficiency in some general field of college work. This is a new idea in American education, but it probably represents an important step in the right direction. Boston Herald.