The University Initiates Its Bootstrapper Program

During the mid 1950s, the United States Air Force instituted "Operation Bootstrap" to allow career service men and women to earn college degrees by "lifting themselves by their bootstraps." The university was well suited for such a program since it offered the Bachelor of General Education Degree and made liberal allowances to grant academic credit for military experiences.

These students changed the academic character of the campus as a result of their intensive study habits. They were not content to earn what was termed, the gentlemen's "C." Non-military students who had been content to take it easy while working toward their respective degrees discovered that grade competition from bootstrappers was intense. Business courses were popular with these military students. President Naylor remarked in the Winter 1970-71 issue of the Tomahawk that Bootstrappers, who have had educational experiences at other universities, are consistent in noting that the instruction they have received at UNO is the highest they have experienced anywhere else.