Higher education has always occupied an important place in this nation's concerns. This study was undertaken in an attempt to determine how the Founding Fathers, especially the nation's first six presidents, regarded the subject of higher education. The study was limited to these six men because they were charged with inaugurating the new government and because these six men were all participants in the drafting and ratifying of the Constitution. Findings for this study came from the personal and private papers of the first six presidents, government documents, and the press. A comparison of the findings indicates that these men shared many beliefs while disagreeing on some aspects of higher education.

The study addressed the problem of recurring technical and musical errors exhibited by students in their private lessons. In an effort to remedy this problem, an attempt was made to structure the entry and exit environment of the private lesson in such a way as to increase the improvement in performing skills by scheduling thirty minutes of practice immediately before and immediately after the private lesson. The purpose of the study was to determine the effect on growth in performing skills (as measured by sight performance) of this arrangement called the Structured Border Lesson (SBL).