House Unit Approves Wider College Grants

The House Education and Labor Committee adopted legislation Thursday that would provide Federal grants to colleges and universities without prior conditions as to how the money is to be used.

Although Government officials and committee members do not know at this time the funding to be made available or say other individual university. Hale Champion, vice president for Financial Affairs yesterday termed the bill "a breakthrough."

University officials hope to release Wednesday an analysis of the bill's implications for Harvard.

The bill is the first ever to propose a funding program in which the disposition of funds is left to the discretion of each institute.

Previous federal funding to higher education has either been earmarked for specific programs or has gone to individual students in the form of scholarships.

"The new bill will make it easier on everybody," Champion said. Champion said he felt that financial aid directly to students increases the number of students who can go on to higher education, but does not enable the universities to make up for poor high school education and fewer cultural opportunities.

"Aid to students goes only to offset tuition," Champion said. "It doesn't provide for any improvement in the education itself." Nonearmarked funding as proposed in the new bill would allow the University to channel the funds into programs that would, Champion said, "increase the quality of opportunity."

The bill also contains a provision sponsored by Rep. Edith Green (D-Ore.) which forbids sex discriminatory admission policies. The bill would allow non coeducational schools to remain segregated, but would require coeducational schools to ignore sex as a factor in admissions. At present, nearly all state universities have quotas on female admissions.

Special Relationship

Daniel Steiner '54, General Counsel to the University, said yesterday that he had not yet seen the bill and did not know how it would apply to Harvard. "Our relationship with Radcliffe is very special," he commented.

Recently integrated schools, like Yale and Princeton,--considered by the bill to be in the process of becoming coeducational--would be given seven years to eliminate sex quotas.

Federal aid would be refused any school violating the sex discrimination provision..

Before the bill becomes law, it will have to be passed by Congress, where considerable opposition is anticipated. The committee's majority--considered more liberal than the House as a whole--has often seen its legislation drastically changed on the House floor. It is expected that the amount of money specified in the bill will be sharply reduced by Congress.