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The Origins of American Scientists In June the presidents of 48 liberal arts colleges met to call attention to the superiority of their institutions for the education of scientists. The 48 colleges are a select group ranging alphabetically from Albion to Wooster. The focus for discussion at the conference was a report prepared by the Oberlin College hosts. 1 Superior to whom? And in what respect? Statistics gathered in the report show that the 48 colleges have outstanding records in encouraging students to complete bachelor's degrees in the sciences and to carry on to Ph.Ds. The select liberal arts colleges surpass in these respects the 20 research universities whose graduate programs were highest rated in a study sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences. Inasmuch as the liberal arts colleges are relatively small, with enrolments typically of one or two thousand, and some of the 20 research universities (such as the Universities of Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Texas at Austin, and California at Berkeley arid Los Angeles) are huge, the report emphasizes percentages of eligible students who take science degrees at the bachelor's and doctor's levels. The percentage of all graduating seniors who are in basic science fields has been a steady 24% for the past 8 years in the liberal arts colleges and a declining 15% in the research universities. Even in absolute numbers of science graduates, the 48 colleges (with 4971 in 1980) approach the 20 research universities (with 6973 the same year). A companion report 2 prepared for the Great Lakes Colleges Association details the percentage of all bachelor's graduates who later attain the Ph.D. degree in a science field. Among the top 50 colleges and universities according to this criterion, half are liberal arts colleges. Sharing first place are Harvey Mudd College and California Institute of Technology. Other reports of similar import have appeared in recent years. ft is remarkable that these impressive achievements in science education have occurred in institutions that receive little federal support and often operate "on a shoestring". The 353 American doctorate-granting universities in fiscal year 1982 received 98% of all federal research and development support to academia and 100% of federal funds for facilities and instrumentation for science instruction. 1 The remaining scraps of support were shared among hundreds of colleges that grant no degree higher the master's. Americans tend to organize institutions in linear rankings, like baseball league standings. The data in these reports demonstrate that a single linear ranking of colleges and universities will not suffice. Those that are excellent for graduate education and research turn out to be less excellent for undergraduate education, as judged by the criteria mentioned. The data require that appropriate ratings of colleges and universities be multidimensional. Each type of institution has its area of special excellence, and each kind of excellence deserves recognition and support. A note of qualification: the data show that the liberal arts colleges excel in inspiring or encouraging students to study for science degrees; they allow the possibility that t h e research universities offer superior instruction to the student who is firmly dedicated to the study of science from the outset. Joseph F. Bunnett (1) Davis-Van Atta, D.; Carrier, S. C; Frankfort, F. "Educating Amercia's Scientists: The Role of the Research Colleges"; Oberlin College, 1985. (2) Fuller, C. H. "An Analysis of Leading Undergraduate Sources of Ph.D.'s, Adjusted for Institutional Size"; Great Lakes College Association, Ann Arbor, MI, 1985.
