Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1912-08-08
how COLLEGE MONEY GOBS
What II Cost to Run the Educa,
tional Plant.
Typical Report Of q western UniveN
sity on Wsy II Spends luA
Funds-Thousaad sna Ons
Unexpected Channels.

To understand how vast a commercial
enterprise the present day university has
become, or to learn why the efficiency
engineers are casting covetous eyes or
our Institutions Of learning. rays the
Boston Transcript, II lie only necessary
TO read carefully any one of the simple
financial reports that a few up-to-the-
minute colleges are now preparing an.
nually for public inspection. Such . 70
port Is that just issued by the University
OF wisconsin. a typical State university
Which was inpclled. either by a sense
OF duty to It's State or a desire for com.
nonsense publicity. to reduce its finan.
cial transactions to the very lowest terms
and to put a record Of them on white
paper.
TO those persons h still believe that
a university's concern Is mainly educa-
tonal this report will come az somewhat
OF a revelation. II will disclose that the
business side Of training Dur young meQ
and women has become a problem In.
volving millions Of dollars q year, and
1t will surely raise the question whetheS
It is not possible in education. az In in.
dustry. to reduce expenses by scientific
management. II Is not that anyone wants
to commercialixe instruction or to maLs
actual financial return the'true test or
research or scholarship. but simply thai
1t Is a good gamble that there 10 a.
ways some waste where receipts and q.
p%enditures run into seven figures.
During the last fiscal year the TINT.
versity Of Wisconsin received from
various sources the enormous sum OF
S1,s17,124.79. very little OF which was
a. ANA>r~-A. -. A. - A-r " A-.--A
Most Of 1t. then. vas to DO devoted 20
the ordinary work OF running the In.
%stitution and its different colleges.
The State itself contributed Si,237,.
soo.25. and the federal government
$4,000. From students tuition fees,
room rents, ETC.. 3S16.l1s.e7 was real.
lied: from sales Of agricultural pro.
ducts n technical Inspections, $751;.
1883. Interest or permanent funds
Melted $a1.s542s and sundry gifts
amounted to 9l~8.s72.56. So far. 20
good. But the figures need both Z
PLANTATION n elaboration.
IncluSled In the great grant from the
State there was, for instance. q sum
amounting to $21s.s4s. which wa ap.
propriated for new construction. al.
d%itional equipment and apparstua
Plainly this cannot be considered q
part Of the annual running cost OF the
university. but is properly chareeabls
to the capital account. In other words.
the commonwealth gave for current
expenses III sum Of S1,oll.oEa.ak az.
From all other sources was received
ssss.224.64. which Is about one.half
the amount given by the State. To
put the whole thing moro forcsf,llyr
or every three dollars received BY tn
regents for the current a
the university. the people Of the state,
through their legislative a~pproprta.
lions. contributed two.
1t will be noted in the
given above that certain substantial
sums Of money came to the university
from sales OF products and technical
inspections. Creamery products. farm
and garden produce. live stock. eta.
brought in sl1s.057.s4. and dairy tests.
water analysis n the like recount
for S23.620 more.
Endowment, 1t seems. Is really q negli.
gible quantity. The amount Of money held
in trust by the egent is only 3e6s, sa2e e.
a sum that Is hardly commensurate with
the age and Importance Of the university.
But as long as the State maintains tn
feverish interest In higher education and
opens It's coners accordingly the lack Of
interest-beartng funds Will not be felt.
Fully as important as the problem Of
how the university gets its money is the
problem OF what 1t does with It when Il
gets IT. Wisconsin. conforming to the
Standardization methods suggested by the
Carnegie Foundation. sets forth its dis.
bursements under six general headingA
viz: Salaries, Institutional, administra~
tive and chemical. 1921. 3sS. 33: wages. Sl0o .
1881: printing, postage and Office SUM
dries. $S3,145.5l; laboratory supplies. pro.
visions. etc. $2so, Oh +; heat. light and re-
pairs. $3.50. LOTS IS: additions and improve
ments. 1891, 264 II; total. 1888 76.% 10.
OF the SG24, 1856 devoted to salaries, pro-
fessors and other members Of the instruc-
tional stan received approximately s7sl.0lS.
The number Of teachers and the salaries
they received in the various grades wsrs
as follows: Six deans. 1900 to 5000 each(
IS full professors. $2.7oO to 1900 each; 4
associate professors. 5000 to $3.50 eacht
81 assistant professors. $3.50 to N6<
each; l5 instructors. 5000 to 5000 eachl
LBS assistants. 500 to 5000 each. To ad.
ministrative n university officers II
general was given the sum Of S6e.sD6
General lectures. conversations and thu
like cost $5.3oS. The rest Of the money
was spent on research work. ~fellowship<
and other aids to scholarship and study.
AS already stated employees Of the
university were paid In wages the SUN
Of $l00.733. The employees sharing II
this distribution were either thos<
connected with the College OF Agri'
culture as farm hands. dairy and gar.
den workers or those connected with
the physical plant as janitors. team
sters. dormitory and dintng-room
help.
Looking at the figures in another
way. some more interesting conclu.
sions are reached. 1t Is disclosed. for
example, that the extension work OF
the university. the work that makes
the great mass OF people OF the state
realize the existence Of their univer.
sity, cost last year the sum OF 39%.l3l..
%. divided as follows. Instruction,
S%7e.loe66: printing. postage and OF.
fce sundries. but mostly postage. $l%,-
s2s4l; laboratory supplies. SAT- 20;
incidentals. S&.46l.ss. Agricultural
institutes involved an expense Of $40,
S7s7s, 35.s9l.sl OF whrch was devoted
to printing and the rest to travel.
The total expenses for the year Of
the department Of physical education
were sa2,36?.3o. Of which s2e.3ol.SS
went to salaries Of instructors. el6..
e26.ls to heat. light ana repairs. and
the rest to supplies. equipment, etc.
other noteworthy items In the list
Of expenditures inclu lie the following,