Special course instruction is handled by over 200 supervisors drawn from the graduate schools and the ranks of retired teachers. Briefing sessions enable these supervisors to carry out to some extent the general Bureau of Study Counsel technique in their specialized instruction. Fee for this service is $2.50 an hour with scaled rates for men who can't afford the regular sum. General counsel, however, is offered at no cost.

Except for students who are directed to the bureau for aid in English expression, the program is carried out on a purely voluntary basis and is divorced from disciplinary action.

Probably the most spectacular results obtained by the study counsel bureau occur in its reading classes. Last term they included more than 200 men, most of whom achieved a 70 per cent increase in speed. Before the class began students read an average of 250 words per minute and were able to answer correctly 6 1-2 out of 10 comprehension questions. At the conclusion of the 18 hour course they averaged 400 to 450 words per minute with a comprehension score of 7 1-2 to 8 questions out of 10.

A carefully developed sequence of material, including the Harvard Reading Films and speed practice material, is calculated to develop "active, purposeful reading," Perry says. The last of the hourly meetings are devoted to note-taking exercises and examination writing technique.

Another bureau service is the special classes, offered chietly for veterans, that review mathematics and the languages at the start of each term. These refresher courses are given in conjunction with the various departments. Last term 500 men enrolled in them.

On the basis of an old survey, bureau assistance helps eight out of ten of the students if serves to raise their grades. Many times the fundamental issue stems from the fact that students who merely had to parrot their instructor in preparatory school find difficulty in writing an exam that asks them to do something with the knowledge they have assimilated. Such men, once oriented, usually experience a great improvement in their marks.