Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 66.djvu/129

Rh college is under no obligation whatever to the alumnus; its obligations were all discharged when he graduated; on the other hand, the student's pecuniary obligation increases each year, reaching its maximum at his graduation. This matter can not be presented too frequently or too emphatically.

An excellent man of large means once informed the writer that he would never send his grandson to a college in which tuition is free, a?, he always paid for what he received. He was taken aback when told that, although paying a large sum for his grandson's tuition, he was still an object of charity to the extent of several hundred dollars a year, the cost per student at that institution being, as the writer knew, four times the fee. It is probable that in no college to-day is the cost less than three times the fee, and in those with small fees the cost is proportionately very much greater. Before giving voice to a demand for a share in control of college affairs, the alumnus will do well to discharge the debt of $1,000 to $1,500 which he owes to 'dear old alma mater.' Were alumni to do this, the pangs of poverty would be less severe in many of our colleges.

Returning from this digression. It is very true that immense sums have been given to colleges and universities during the last thirty years and that such giving is likely to continue. Much of the money thus contributed was for the founding of new institutions, too often with inadequate equipment, thus making the condition worse by adding to the number of struggling colleges; much was given for the erection of buildings, most of them needed, but not in all cases useful in proportion to the cost and, until recently, not always endowed; much has been bestowed upon the endowment of scholarships; not a little has gone toward the founding of fellowships for the encouragement of graduate study; some large sums have been given for the advancement of outdoor athletics and intercollegiate contests; and in many cases funds have been provided for the employment of instructors in new branches. But unconditional gifts of money have made up only a small part of the whole, and even where these have been given, those in charge of affairs have rarely seen fit to strengthen the institution by increasing salaries, preferring rather to 'expand' by creating new chairs to be filled by young men at, to speak within limits, modest salaries. In all probability, there are institutions with a net endowment not so great as it was thirty years ago, though showing a great increase in number of students and instructors as well as in property. The average salary is much less and the president's energies are devoted to raising money to meet the annual deficit. So it has come about that the college president of our day has duties very different from those of thirty years ago. The loss of the old-time president has been a disaster and the good of our colleges requires that he be brought back. There should be an officer at the head of the business affairs and