viding in the constitution that the
governing board of the state colleges
be made the public agency truly re-
sponsible for their control and opera-
tion. In a popular democracy in
which public higher education is ex-
pected to be available to all who are
qualified, constitutional autonomy
serves to provide that the governing
of public higher education will be
responsive to the will and needs of the
people. In an era when both the size
and expense of public higher educa-
tion will continue to rise, constitu-
tional autonomy makes it possible for
the governing of higher education to
be most responsive to the goals of
effective and efficient management of
the public's business. Finally, we
claim that the traditions of the
uniqueness of the special trust of pub-
lic higher education will be guarded
most securely if the new constitution
provides for the autonomy of the state
colleges under their Board of Trus-
tees.
I. CONSTITUTIONAL AUTONOMY AND
THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE
"Although it is often difficult to
gauge the will and needs of the peo-
ple, in the case of higher education
today there can be little confusion on
this subject: MORE HIGHER EDU-
CATION IS BEING DEMANDED
AND THE STATE IS EXPECTED
TO FILL THE NEED.
"The 1966 report of the Maryland
Advisory Council for Higher Educa-
tion predicts that the total number of
high school graduates in the State will
increase from 47,303 in 1965 to
69,427 by 1980. The number of
students continuing into higher edu-
cation will increase from 21,381 to
over 37,000, and the percentage of
high school graduates continuing into
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higher education will increase from
45.2 per cent in 1965 to over 53 per
cent by 1980.
"The latest study made by the staff
of the Board of Trustees of the State
Colleges predicts that the percentage
of twelfth graders in Maryland insti-
tutions who will attend Maryland in-
stitutions of public higher education
will increase from 31.8 per cent in
1966 to 43 per cent by 1980. The
same study projects an increase in the
percentage of graduating seniors at-
tending the state colleges from ap-
proximately 5.7 per cent in 1967 to
11. 3 per cent in 1980.
"The number of entering freshmen
in the state colleges is expected to
increase by nearly 400 per cent by
1980. Potentially of great significance
also will be the increased number of
transfer applications as the two-year
community colleges expand their pro-
grams and facilities.
"The combined enrollment statis-
tics and projections show a growth in
the total number of students in the
state colleges from 6.211 in 1965 to
13,947 in 1970, 23,791 by 1975, and
32,291 by 1980. The largest percent-
age increase in the three 'five-year
periods between 1965 and 1980 will
occur between 1965 and 1970 when
the enrollment is expected to increase
by 55.47 per cent. Thus it is in the
next few years that the major expan-
sion of the State College System will
take place. Constitutional autonomy
granted to the governing board of the
state colleges would assure to the
people of Maryland that the respon-
sible governmental agency would in
fact be responsible and not subject to
interference in its internal policy-
making functions.
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