Ford's Gift

In a speech this month at the University of Pennsylvania, Henry Ford II noted the rising concern of big business over the shortage of classrooms and laboratories on the nation's campuses, then dropped a big hint. "We at the Ford Motor Company," said he, "have been looking hard at the problem for some time, and we hope to be able in the near future to come forth with some direct kind of action to help meet it head-on." Ford proved as good as his word. This week, the Ford Motor Co. and the Ford Motor Company Fund* offered the University of Michigan enough money ($6,500,000) and enough land (210 acres, valued at more than $3,000,000) to start a cooperative college in Dearborn.

Planned for 2,700 students, the Dearborn center will give regular liberal-arts courses as well as work in engineering and business administration. But students will divide their time between academic work and jobs in industry. Michigan's first experiment in cooperative education, the center also represents the largest single gift ever made by a corporation to a college or university.

-Entirely separate from the Ford Foundation.

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