COOPERATIVE EDUCATION The Department requires a flow of qualified personnel into professional categories, such as science and engineering and sometimes in the administrative fields of accounting, budget, and production control. To assure an adequate source of qualified personnel for advancement, the Department conducts cooperative educational programs which are governed by uniform standards and policies promulgated by the Secretary of Defense. Programs for the further education of competent civilian employees are conducted either through the facilities of recognized cooperative colleges and universities, or through other colleges where plans for integration of work and study leading to a degree can be developed. Employees alternate work and study. The employment constitutes a regular continuing and essential element in the educational process since the work assignments are related to the field of study in which the student is engaged while on the job. Assignments increase in difficulty as the student progresses through his college curriculum toward the degree. Financial assistance for student-employees for the payment of tuition, other expenses, and salaries are not usually provided for the periods of school attendance. If it is determined that tuition assistance is necessary in order to attract and retain students, such assistance may not exceed half of the tuition costs of the total program leading to the bachelors degree. Student-employees pursuing studies at the graduate level may be given financial assistance up to the full amount of the tuition expenses when desirable. Studentemployees who receive tuition assistance must agree to remain with the Department after graduation for a period proportionate to the amount of financial assistance provided. If this obligation is not fulfilled, a refund must be made for the tuition paid. A total of 2,366 persons had been enrolled in the cooperative educational programs by the end of June 1959. Table 79.-FEDERAL FUNDS OBLIGATED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FOR TUITION PAYMENTS TO EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS FOR THE TRAINING OF CIVILIAN EMPLOYEES AND THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS ENROLLED: 1956-57 TO 1959-60 Table 79 indicates the number of students enrolled and the Federal funds obligated from 1956-57 to 1959-60 for tuition payments to colleges and universities for the training of civilian employees of the Department of Defense. These data relate to all activities comprising the cooperative educational programs. EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN Included in this program area are three separate provisions which recognize the need for educational services at military installations. The largest of these is the program for the education of children who have accompanied their parents on oversea military assignments. Another program described is that for school bus services for dependent children of Navy military personnel. The third program is for native children of the Northern Mariana Islands which provides elementary and secondary schooling for the indigenous population in the area. EDUCATION OF DEPENDENT CHILDREN OVERSEAS Military and civilian personnel serving the Department of Defense in locations outside continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands are permitted to take their families with them under certain conditions. Experience has shown that this consideration is extremely important in maintaining high morale and in securing greatest efficiency. The plan, however, has required the provision of schooling for the children in these families. The Air Force, Army, and Navy are authorized by law to spend appropriated funds to provide elementary and secondary schooling for children of military and civilian employees of the Department of Defense residing outside the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Schooling may be provided in service-operated schools, in nonservice-operated schools available in the oversea area, and by correspondence courses. If personnel of more than one military service are located in the area and it is feasible to establish a service-operated school, one service operates the school for all military dependents in the area. If it is impractical to establish a service-operated school, education is provided by tuition payments to nonservice-operated schools available in the locality. If neither service-operated nor locally operated schools are available, then correspondence or home-study courses are provided at Government expense. The service-operated schools in overseas areas are patterned after American public schools. Every effort is made to provide an adequate variety of both curricular and extracurricular activities in order to permit the maximum educational development of the pupils. The secondary schools are accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. Although the service-operated schools are provided primarily for dependents of Department of Defense personnel, dependents of U.S. citizen employees of other Government agencies, U.S. contractors, and other U.S. citizens living in the area may be admitted in that order on a space available basis. In such cases a tuition charge is made equal to the actual per pupil cost of operating the school. In rare instances the dependents of non-U.S. citizen personnel may be admitted on a space available basis and with the payment of tuition charges. Expenditures and numbers of pupils enrolled for these programs from 1952-53 to 1959-60 are shown in table 80. Table 80.-FEDERAL FUNDS EXPENDED FOR THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN OF MILITARY PERSONNEL AND UNITED STATES CITIZEN CIVILIAN EMPLOYEES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE IN OVERSEAS AREAS: 1952-53 TO 1959-60 OPERATION OF SCHOOL BUSES The Department of the Navy provides transportation service for dependents of military personnel living on the premises of naval establishments when transportation by local school bus or commercial lines to elementary and secondary schools of local school districts is unavailable. The program is operated in the continental United States and in oversea areas. Transportation was provided for approximately 14,000 dependents of naval personnel during 1958-59. Operating expenditures of the program were as follows: $448,847 in 1957-58; $435,390 in 1958-59; and an estimated $450,000 for 1959-60. Similar data for the other services are not available. EDUCATION FOR THE NATIVE POPULATION ON PACIFIC ISLANDS Under Executive Orders 10408 and 10475, the Secretary of the Navy is assigned the responsibility for administering a program of elementary and secondary education for the indigenous population of the Northern Mariana Islands, exclusive of the Rota district. During the 1958-59 school year, 1,200 pupils received direct benefits. Federal expenditures for the program, which are supplemented by local revenues, were $103,000 in 1958-59 and an estimated $101,000 for 1959-60. The Department of the Interior also has responsibility for educational programs in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. A description of these additional services is given in chapter 7. MEDICAL EDUCATION FOR NATIONAL DEFENSE In February 1952, a program for medical education for national defense was started through the joint efforts of representatives of the Association of American Medical Colleges, the military services, the U.S. Public Health Service, and the former Federal Civil Defense Administration. The primary objective of this program is to make available for incorporation into the curriculums of the participating medical schools, in the manner deemed appropriate, the vast amount of medical knowledge of fundamental importance to military medicine and surgery and medical aspects of civil defense. A pilot program was first initiated in five medical schools in the fall of 1952 and now 70 medical schools are included. It is anticipated that the remaining medical schools which desire participation will join the program by the end of the 1961-62 school year. The cost of this program averages $10,000 per school plus certain basic costs for the operation of the Office of the National Coordinator. When implemented in all medical schools desiring participation, the cost will amount to approximately $750,000 per year. The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare contributes one-fourth of this amount. Table 81 shows the Department of Defense expenditures for 1952-53 through 1959-60 and the amount budgeted for 1960-61, as well as the number of medical schools participating during the 9-year period. Table 81.-FEDERAL FUNDS DISBURSED FOR MEDICAL EDUCATION FOR NATIONAL DEFENSE, AND NUMBER OF SCHOOLS PARTICIPATING IN THE PROGRAM: 1952-53 TO 1960-61 RESEARCH ASSISTANTSHIPS IN EDUCATIONAL Research and development contracts with educational institutions and research centers affiliated, with educational institutions are designed for performance of needed research for the military departments. Significantly, employment may be provided for a substantial number of research assistants to perform research while engaged in completing graduate or postgraduate training. Such employment contributes to the technical training of the student and indirectly assists him in completing his education. These activities help to develop resources from which highly qualified Department employees may be recruited. Based on Department of Defense appropriations for research and development, it is roughly estimated that between 10,000 and 15,000 research assistants receive further education on research and development contracts covering scientific and technical projects. Federal funds obligated for the conduct of research and development by the Department of Defense at educational institutions in the 3-year period from 1958-59 to 1960-61 are summarized in table 82. |