In the accompanying excerpts from his article on experimenting at Columbia College, Dean Herbert E. Hawkes discusses the question of a generalized educational program, designed for the benefit of the average group, as opposed to a specialized curriculum suited to the individual. As an example of the latter system, he cites the introduction of a free choice of electives at Harvard. Between this extreme and the cut and dried uniformity of college education as it existed not so long ago, there is, says Dean Hawkes, a "highest common factor of what any young man ought to know", which it is his aim to provide to undergraduates.

The distribution requirements at Harvard present some slight limitations on the free choice of electives, but the wide selection left, after they have been filled, make possible a much more specialized program than could be called the "highest common factor." At Harvard it is assumed that this background has been obtained in secondary schools, and to insure this fact the entrance requirements are strictly specified and allow little latitude. The Harvard Freshman is supposed to be sufficiently mature to make "a wise choice" from the many directions which the college facilities offer him.

Whether this shifting of the educational groundwork from the college to the high school is entirely justified or not, it is impossible to decide. At least Harvard's system offers that large majority of its students who do not enter graduate schools an education that goes deeper than just a broad background, though, the field may be narrower. Some things are so broad as to be flat.