Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 11.djvu/848

 832 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

And it is an unpardonable wrong to compel the boys and girls to attend the school whose equipment is inferior to the best in the state.

3. Then there is the question of size. This is more than a question of mere bigness. As a general rule, the larger the uni- versity, the more costly and efficient are its plant and equipment. In the number of students in attendance the state university is rapidly overshadowing its competitors. The late President Adams of Wisconsin, published figures showing that from 1885 to 1895, in the eight independent New England colleges Am- herst, Bowdoin, Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard, Williams, Wes- leyan, and Yale the increase in attendance was 20 per cent. In eight representative denominational colleges of the North Central states the increase for the same period was but 14 per cent. In eight representative state universities the increase was 320 per cent.

In 1904 the eight New England colleges mentioned above had 11,740 students; the eight state universities, 23,451 ; and the eight denominational colleges, 8,700. From the standpoint of the age of these schools, all is in favor of the independent and denominational colleges for they were here first. Yet the youngest school that is, the state university is already the largest. Its day of probation is over. It has come to stay.

4. "But size does not count," says the friend of the denomi- national college; "I would rather send my boy or girl to the smaller school because of the better atmosphere." This strikes at the root of the matter, for this places the issue at once on a moral basis. If we examine this claim, we again discover that the evidence is in favor of the state university.

Whence come the crowd of students who throng the state universities ? Considering the number of denominational colleges granting degrees, it would seem that only the wicked and ungodly are left for the state university. Here again facts are instructive. In 1897, when a census was taken by F. W. Kelsey, the Presby- terian church had more students, by actual count, in seventeen state universities than in all the Presbyterian colleges of the