The Legislature is being asked to throw out an antiquated law that was designed to keep young people out of college. In 1871, the University of Missouri was 32-years-old, and only then did it get its first appropriation from the Legislature. The money was to pay the faculty. In those days we didn’t have high schools as we know themtoday. There were about a dozen preparatory schools for people 12 to 14 years of age. But the Legislature wanted none of its money to be used for those schools. So, it banned people from entering the University until they were at least 16. University student-lobbyist Scott Johnson says that law is antiquated and needs to be repealed. And he says it’s not just because of prodigies that can go intocolleges or universities before 16 – sometimes before they’re even teenagers. The sponsor of the bill has shown a Senate committee a newspaper article about a 14-year-oldhigh school student who got a perfect score on the SAT, one of the tests used to determine college admission eligibility. The Senate committee is considering theproposal.
