Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-11-10
C0LLEGE LIFE.
The Cost of Education ut English and
American Uufversttfea.

The system OF "unattached students
at the University Of Oxford, England. a
we learn from recent report, is work
ing well, and in that country, where tn
cost Of living at a university is ia
greater than here, proves itself TO be
great public blessing. The term "unat
taehed students" means simply student
who are not attached to any college
Ordinarily, young man on entering
the university becomes q member o.
some one Of the colleges which together
form the university. The cost Of living
nj one Of those colleges has been swelled
hy custom and tradition TO q high fig
uIe, and this is what makes the expense
ot obtaining a liberal education in Eng
land so great.
In 1853 plan was adopted for the
benefit Of the poor boys, by which it be-
came possible TO obtain university de-
gree without this unnecessary expense.
A young man, instead Of enrolling him
self as a member Of college, enters a
b0ardingh0use in the town and receives
the instruction Of the university faculty.
He Is ia al respects member Of the
university; receives a similar degree to
that given TO the members OF the col
ieges, and in all respects he stands ON
Level with his fellOw-students. The only
difference Is that be does not receive any
instruction from the college tutors, a de-
iicieucy which he can more than make
good by little extra study, while in re-
turn he is able to save the amount Of the
fees aud Of the numberiess expenses in
cidental to a life in chambers.
During the first year that the system
was in use the number Of students avail
ing themselves Of its privileges was fifty;
the year following the number was
seventy-twO; the year after the roll con-
taiBed one hundred and fOurnames, and
during the year lS7l-72 one hundred and
twenty-five men were studying as un-
attached students.
The most important feature Of the re-
poTI, however, relates TO the cost Of liv-
ing. The average amount Of the neces-
~ary expenses for a year are given 81
about Two hundred and thirty-six dol
lars. and the report saws that results thus
Jar prove conclusively that a careful
student can get through his Oxford
career for q sum not exceeding fifty
pounds a year''-ab0ut two hundred and
Ifty dollars The report adds that the
amount Of intellectual life and industry
developed by the unattached system
compares favOrably with that common
among the average members Of a college.
Two hundred and fifty dollars q year
would be considered by most boys at
American colleges as a rather small
allowance for . year 9 expenses, although
il is true that the popular notions as 10
rhe costs of obtaining a liberal education
iu this country are not rs accurate as
they might be. Williams College, in
Massachusetts, was founded in 1873. In
round numbers, and including all the
uer-sSaries of life such as board,
lodging, washing aud tuition, the total
rust of living at this college during the
school year Is not more than two hun
dred dollars. At the same or less cost
70 undergraduates every facility is
giveu for the acquisition Of learning at
tle established University Of Ala
bsma, located at Tuscaloosa, the most
attractive town, in every incident Of
nature, on the continent
The University Of Virginia, which
gvas founded ia 1918, under the auspices I
uf Thomas Jefferson, is situated in Char
I8tte-yiiie, a small town of Albemarle Z
county, Virginia, which offers but little I
iuducemcnt for unusual extravaganza. [
The expenses Of this institution amount 1
TO 2 little less than three hundred dollars 4
scar. A years residence at Cornell I
University, which was opened in lS6S, 4
and is situated near Itheca, q town Of /
about nine thousand inhabitants, in this I
state, costs young man about three 1
hundred dollars.
At y ale College and Harvard Univer- /
sitv. the first Of which was chartered in I
l7ol, and the second i'm 1888, the cost Of I
living Is higher than at either Of the in /
srituti3ns already mentioned. This, /
however, Is accounted for by their situa- 4
ti0n, the first being in New Haven and 1
the other in Cambridge and near BOs- I
ton. At Harvard. a Students yearly I
expenses amount, on an average, to four |
hundred dollars, which is about what il I
costs for a years residence at Yale.
The figures we have given cover only /
Young mans necessary expenses. !
Travelling expenses, clothes, and the I
cost Of personal indulgences cannot be /
s.-timated. and these are about as much /
lu one place as another.