The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-03-16

sNuuehtS pay 10 AuF Luelr INSTRUCTION.. 1AIRe
endowment funds are necessary to pay
the salaries of instructors, and expensive
buildings are erected, aud equipped with
costly apparatus in which to give the ln
struction, and libraries are founded and
maintained TO aid it. But very small per
cent. of all this is ever assessed upon the
student. The case of Columbia, whose
annual report was recently issued, will
illustrate this The expense incurred by
the college in the Instruction of its stu
dents for the year last past was S405 900,
while the amount paid by the stu
dents for tuition was about SlA,
600, only about $1,000 more than one
third the actual cost of such tuition. st.
Lawrence pays $40 for every one it re-
ceives from the students. The same is
true in varying proportions in all colleges.
But it should be observed also, that in all
this no account is made Of the interest on
the plant;" that is, on the real estate, build
ings, apparatus, library, collections. fur
niture, etc, all of which the student uses
in gaining his education, and which
forms legitimate part Of the cost of it.
1t would seem TO be the proper thing for
wealthy alumni to consider such fac s as
these when they are asked for gifts and be-
quests wherewith to endow their alma
mater. Every college and university III
the land is in the strictest sense an institu-
ton of charity as well as of learning and
were it not for this fact only the children of
the rich would DO abe TO obtain college
education.
But besides this which constitutes the
very foundation of the college itself. every
institution of this kind has large funds de-
voted to the assistance of those students
whose circumstances are such that they
cannot pay even the small part of the cost
of their education which it is still the
custom to charge to them. These funds are
usually the gifts of alumni or other friends
of the college who know the struggle which
most young men have to make to obtain an
education, and serious oftentimes are the
straits of these necessltous students. They
commonly take the form of scholarships,
beneficiary funds, prizes, fellowships-the
} last being mostly intended for graduates aud
usually yielding enough to support the
student at college while he is pursuing some
special course of research. Scholarships in
most colleges only pay the tuition, and in
some instances not all of that. In many
colleges these funds often aggregate large
sums. Harvard paid last year to her ne
cessltous studdnts 81, 5000. which represents
capital fund for such purposes of over
a million of dollars. Yale has, 1 under
stand, nearly half that sum so de-
voted. Amherst over quarter of
Vassar Sl50,000. st. Lawrence has nine
scholarships OF 81 900 each founded by in
dividuals or churches, and sixty-eighJ free
scholarships connected with local and other
preparatory schools and academies Only
seventeen of the latter are available each
year for students entering the college.
Nine scholarships pay the taition only, and
are given freely to meritorious students.
Brown has 100 scholarships, sixty Of
which yield $50 each, but special aid is
granted to cases of special need. Cornell has
the state scholarships, one for each assem-
bly, district which give free tuition, aud
several university scholarships, which
yield 5000 each. Hamilton has scholarships
which pay tuition and room rent. SYRIA
cuse has a loan fund, and ia kes the notes of
students who are unable to pay tuition dur
ing their college course. Bates gives free
tuition to all who need it, and sometimes
room rent also Colby grants aid to all
good students who need it, i. O.: "Nne In
every two, to the amount of $26, $45, s57
and $50, respectively in the several college
years. Bowdoin has a number of small scho-
larsnips. Prot. Gilmore of Rochester Univer-
versty says that their students do not
come burdened with debt, but Are burdened
with poverty. We give majority of them
free tuition, and aid them with every pos
sible way to earn money with which TO
keep the wolf from the door" In Wesleyan
University there are twelve scholarships
for each class. yielding from $55 to S155la
year, and free tuition is given to really
needy and worthy students
1t will thus be seen that every possible
provision is made for the help of students
who must depend largely upon their own
res urces for obtaining an education. IL has
really come to that that instruction is offered
free, and all the student has to do is to sup
port himself at the college while getting his
education, and even then the college comes
to his aid in many instances by giving him
4
his tuition. For the rest he must depend
upon his own resources. But we have
seen that In most cases the cost of living at
these colleges is not necessarily large. and
at the country colleges is quito small. If
he is young man of energy and capacity,
and is not afraid to work. or too proud TO
take any honorable employment, he may
easily earn enough to carry him through
He has his long vacation in summer, which
he can employ in many profitable ways.
He can get employment in a business
house, perhaps, or a lawyers office, TO
write. lie can work on a farm or at a
mechanical trade, if he has one. He
can sell books, or serve as waiter in a sum
mer hotel. In the winter, il he is in the
neighborhood of the larger cities and towns,
he may get employment in an evening
school, Some Of the colleges have their
long vacation in the winter to enable the
students to go out and take schools for
term, and so earn SIS to $3.50. Usually
those who have most need are provided
with some work about the college build
ings or grounds, in the library or pro-
fessor's rooms. In the large colleges
considerable sums are made by the best
students tutoring the others. L know one
young man at st. Lawrence who works for
his board in a family in the village. He
does this and still keeps up with his class. He
has free tuition, and as ne earns enough
during vacation to buy his clothes aud
books. he will come through and get his
diploma without being in debt. Indeed,
do not learn that any considerable proper
ton of college students come out Of college
burde ed with debt.
1t will thus appear that the conditions
and necessities of the average American
college student have been most carefully
considered by the founders aud supporters
Of American colleges. They are certainly
adjusted to the needs of those having the
stanchest resources, and make it possible
nay, comparatively easy-for any young
man of sufficient talent and the right dispo-
sition and purpose To gain a college educa-
ton, and what is far less important, col
lego diploma A. B. HERvEY.
PRINCE AND WIDOW.