INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN DENMARK A. INTRODUCTION Purpose of the study. The purpose of this bulletin is to present to collegiate registrars, committees of admission, and State departments of public instruction, such data about the institutions of higher education in Denmark as will enable these officials and offices to form fairly accurate judgments of how higher training in Denmark compares with that in the United States. The information is intended mainly for use in connection with evaluating the credentials of students trained in Denmark who wish to continue their studies in the United States but it should be of value also to any one interested in higher education. The following summary of the organization of education and of the work of the secondary schools is a brief explanation of the place which the institutions of university rank hold in the national scheme of education in Denmark. B. PREPARATION FOR HIGHER STUDIES Organization of instruction.-By regulations of 1903 and 1904, instruction in Denmark in preparation for higher studies is begun in a 7-year Folkeskole (folk or primary school) which the children enter at the age of 6 or 7. After 4 or 5 years of attendance at the Folkeskole, or when they are about 11 years of age, those children that will later attend the university or some other higher institution move over into a 4-year Mellemskole (middle school) which is a lower secondary school. Having completed the Mellemskole, normally at about 15 years of age, and having passed its afsluttende Aarspröve or Mellemskoleeksamen (leaving or middle school examination), they proceed to the 3-year gymnasium graduation from which admits to a higher institution. (See Graph I, p 2). Most of the children that are not destined for higher education go directly through the 7-year course of the Folkeskole and after graduation from it participate in Fortsaettelsesundervisning (continuation instruction) at day, part-time, or evening schools offering training in technical, trade, or commercial lines. For girls there are schools also in housekeeping and domestic science. Others complete the Mellemskole and, instead of entering a gymnasium, go to the 1 year full-time continuation class, called the Realklasse (real or modern class) of the Mellemskole. This closes with the Realeksamen (real or modern examination) which opens the way to a few exceptional phases of higher education (see pp. 4, 6), but in general leads to minor civil-service and administrative positions. The curricula of the schools are prescribed by the National Government through Undervisningsministeriet (the National Ministry of Education). The program of study in the Folkeskole and in the Mellemskole is the same for all pupils, but in a gymnasium the pupil may elect the klassisk-sproglige (classical-linguistic), the nysproglige (modern language), or the matematisk-naturvidenskabelige Retning (mathematics-science line of study). Most gymnasia offer only the last two of these lines but provision for the classical-linguistic line is found in a number of the older schools. In 1903 entry to the secondary schools was provided for girls. At present about three-fifths of the gymnasia are coeducational. 1 Secondary school curricula.-The two following tables are copies of the Normaltimeplaner (normal curricula) for the Mellemskole and the gymnasium as issued by the Ministry of Education for these schools in 1904 and 1906, respectively. They give the number of hours of instruction per week of each year of training for each subject of instruction and constitute the minimum requirements. As may be seen, a limited choice of subjects or number of hours or of both is allowed in some instances and in general practice there is a slight variation. Deviation from the plan, however, must be approved by the Ministry of Education. TABLE 1.-Curricula for the Mellemskole In class I, a school may offer either English or German. If German is offered in class I, the hours per week for the 4 years are 6-3-3-3, and those for English, 0-5-44. 1 An hour of instruction means 1 class hour of 50 minutes. TABLE 2.-Curricula for the three lines of the gymnasium 1 Five hours per week if English is the major; when German is the major subject, there are 5 hours of German and 4 hours per week of English. In the classical-linguistic, and in the mathematics-science line there is a choice of 2 hours per week in either English or German. Curricula for the Realklasse.-In Danish, English, German, practical arithmetic, and mathematics (and in French if it was offered in the Mellemskole) the work is a continuation of that offered in the Mellemskole. In physics, history, geography, and natural history, the work of the Realklasse is a more intensive study of parts already covered in the work of the Mellemskole. Work may be taken up also in subjects not included in the curriculum of the Mellemskole. The following is a copy of the Timeplan (curriculum) recommended by the Ministry of Education in 1906 for the Realklasse of schools for boys and for coeducational schools: Danish.... Curriculum Two foreign languages.. Practical arithmetic and mathematics.. Physics, history, geography, and natural history... Hours 4 8 4 8 6 In the curricula of girls' schools and in the curricula for girls in coeducational schools practical arithmetic and mathematics may be omitted, thus allowing for girls 10 hours for optional subjects. Interpretation of the tables.-In studying the above tables for a consideration of the fullness of the training that a |