Latin American Universities
In recent years one goal of higher education in Latin America has been to make a major contribution to national development. It has been assumed that this contribution should take two forms: better preparation of professional men in a greater variety of specialties and the accumulation of knowledge necessary for national development through research. It is my impression that, on the whole, there has been some success in reaching the first goal and almost total failure so far as the second is concerned. The traditional Latin-American university has comprised isolated professional schools which students enter directly from the secondary schools. The professors are part-time professional men who come to the university a few hours a week to teach a single course in law, medicine, pharmacy, or engineering. The students commute from their homes and frequently have fullor part-time jobs outside the university. There are many hours a week of classes and not much outside study. The method of instruction is that of the formal lecture, and final examinations are prepared for by frantic memorization of notes. Academic contacts between professors and students are limited. Little or no research is carried on in the university, and none should be expected under this traditional system. During the last five to ten years, however-particularly as a result of the Alliance for Progress-a vigorous though spotty movement for university reform has been growing. Especially as it has been related to U.S. efforts to assist in change, this movement has used, in the main, two general types of projects. One has been technical aid to various universities for the improvement of particular faculties or professional programs, such as agriculture, economics, engineering, medicine, or dentistry, normally of immediate practical importance for health or industrial development. I am not aware that there has been objective evaluation of the effects of these numerous short-range projects, but I have the impression that their total cost has been immense and that the percentage of real successes has been very low. The second type of project, which has had a broad impact upon the universities that have entered into it, has focused upon the creation of all-university pre-professional programs of study, programs of so-called estudios generales, in the basic academic disciplines required of all entering university students. The various objectives of this type of reform are valuable and widely recognized: economy and efficiency of operation through the centralization of instruction and facilities; improvement of instruction through improved curricular materials, laboratories, and teaching methods; moves toward the establishment of central university libraries; and a concern for counseling and other student services.