Ever since the alarming financial plight of the universities became evident, economists and education experts have been bringing up plans to close the dollar gap. These range from proposals for closing down a number of colleges to cries of "let the government pay."

Federal aid is the pet solution of many. They see a program of unrestricted subsidies, with government money pouring into colleges and universities. This money would permit modernization and expansion of college plants, they say, and prevent a cutback in the number of students and size of faculty. Most educators, however, feel that the idea of government endowment without government control is a pipedream.

Alarmed at the number of college-ability youths who never get to college, President Truman recently proposed a system of Federal national scholarships. These scholarships would be awarded, on the basis of financial need and high-school records, to students already admitted to colleges. Federally-guaranteed loans would supplement the scholarships, with the government paying the entire cost of administering the program. Legislation setting up the Federal scholarship program is now in preparation.

Colleges fearing Federal control say they would rather increase their efforts to get endowments and money from private sources. Gifts to colleges have dropped considerably in recent years in proportion to tuition and operating costs, but many educators hope that public response to new appeals will make Federal aid unnecessary.

One way to solve the problem of struggling colleges is simply to let them expire. Some administrators are sure that the country would be better off if many of its second-rate colleges folded. They feel that the educational value of these institutions is doubtful, and that many of them exist only because of the G. I. Bill. Some of these men think a trend to consolidation is a good thing; they like President Conant's plan of community junior colleges, which would have educational advantages as well as economic ones.

For state and local colleges in poor areas, a program of direct federal aid to states has been proposed. This money could also be used to establish local two-year colleges.

The sliding tuition scale, as advocated by Seymour Harris, is probably one of the most radical solutions. Under this proposal, each student pays what he can: the rich man pays for the poor man, and the middle man pays for himself. A rather obvious hitch has been pointed out: admissions boards would be bidding for wealthy students.

No one of these proposals offers a complete answer to the financial dilemma of the universities, and administrators are still continuing their search for the elusive dollar. Tomorrow's editorial will evaluate the suggestions given so far, and discuss the long-range objectives of American higher education.