Big Brother

The crush to get into prestigious colleges is largely a matter of simple arithmetic: the U.S. has too few of them. The great schools could expand, but for the moment they have all the students they want.-Or they might take a page from Britain's book, with affiliates in distant places. Like the University of London's University College of Ghana, why not a Yale-in-Denver or a Harvard-in-Dallas?

But both those noble institutions seem rooted to New England.

Last week M.I.T. moved toward an in triguing solution: a big-brother relation with small (1,254 fulltime students), distant, little-known Oklahoma City University. Under "The Great Plan," as O.C.U. proudly calls it, M.I.T. will completely revamp the school's curriculum. Supervised by five M.I.T.-recruited professors, O.C.U. next fall will put about 25 bright freshmen in an honors program of high-caliber English, foreign languages, physics and math. By the time the program spreads to all students, O.C.U. hopes to be producing education that matches M.I.T.

The impetus came last fall from Oilman Dean A. McGee (Kerr-McGee Oil Industries), who has long been concerned with improving his state's educational standing. "Industry today goes where it can find knowledge and skill," says McGee, and he wants industry to find those commodities in Oklahoma. When his ideas brought no response from the football-prone University of Oklahoma, McGee turned to neighboring O.C.U. and struck academic oil. An O.C.U. trustee himself, he organized a steering committee of ten other businessmen and O.C.U.'s enthusiastic President Jack S. Wilkes. After a survey of the school's prospects. M.I.T. agreed to join the plan--if O.C.U. raised $2.545,000 to finance it.

By last week O.C.U. had raised $2,170.-000. in amounts ranging from $1 to $500.-000. The money will give O.C.U. topnotch science equipment and books; it will pay for sending faculty members to M.I.T. for training. Most important, it will be used to set up 75 four-year scholarships (average cost: $1,000 a year) for the ablest youngsters O.C.U. can find. Score card to date: 21 scholarships, awarded to high school seniors throughout Oklahoma and Texas. Casting a bit of sarcasm at Oklahoma U.. Oilman McGee said: "We aim to recruit bright students just like Bud Wilkinson recruits that football team."

* One exception: Columbia University's President Grayson Kirk last week urged Columbia College to boost enrollment by 60% (to 4,000) as soon as possible.

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