Milford chronicle., 1960-01-08
University News

Public appropriations, gifts from
business, alumni and friends, and
higher student fees will all be re-
uuired for the adequate financing
of higher education in the next de-
cade, according to DR.. John A Per-
kins, president of the University OF
Delaware.
eve must realize that we are
rich enough to educate ourselves as
we need to be educated in order to
survive and flourish" DR.. Perkins
advises. Thine and opportunity
lost in the education of college
age youth can never be reclaimed" :"
Rapidly swelling college enroll
ments in the sixties foretell the
need for greatly increased funds,
DR.. Perkins states in his annual re-
port for the 195S-59 academis year.
"The income of colleges and un-
iversities is generally too small to
attract the needed quality of
people to their faculties" he OBJ
serves. There are ever more books
and scientific journals to be pur-
chased, and they are more costly.
DUH AaDOA aNOAJ ouPPAACo anu OAAAR
ment are more complex, more var
led and more expensive. Research,
indispensable to teaching Of col
legiate calibre, consume space in
lava-like fashion. Fuller utilization
of plant increases operational costs
for utilities and maintenance SER
vices. Added students will require
more qualified faculty, more labor
atories, more equipment and more
library books"
To properly finance higher edu-
cation, it is the responsibility of
enlightened citizens to demand
self-sacrifice to the extent needed,
DR.. Perkins declares. In Delaware,
a State rather than Federal app
roach to financing is of decided ad-
vantage, he says.
I'm the present decade" DIR. Per-
kins notes, Estate grants to the
university for general operations
have more than doubled; neverthe-
less, higher education now receives
a smaller proportion of the States
total appropriation than it did six
years ago. Yet the Delaware Legis-
lature has made remarkable rec
ord in satisfying the University's
conservative requests for operating
funds in each biennium. Delaware,
however, has about kept abreast of
what the other states have done for
higher education. In spite of it's
hlgher-than-average per capita in
come, the State of Delaware still
ranks in the lowest quartile in it's
expenditures per student in state
supported institutions of higher
learning"
Gifts by large corporations have
been a new source of support for
higher education in recent years.
Or. Perkins observes, but most of
them have benefited private rather
than public institutions.
This discrimination is not COM
pletely Justified" he says. "The
public universities have been most
significantly meeting the needs of
industry for the type of personnel
that has resulted in new products
and greater efficiency, both of
which have made for greater pro-
fits.
Fortunately, corporations which
have conscientiously investigated
the situation, are coming to realize
that often what they receive from
public universities in the way of
highly educated manpower far ex-
ceeds their tax contributions to the
support of public higher education"
Greatly increased endowments
have aided many institutions, and
DR.. Perkins notes, and it is increas-
nd Innnpnn 4.
enabled the University of Delaware
to improve it's position with only
average support by the state. AL
umni giving the nation over also
has expanded notably but, as yet,
there has not been widespread par
ticipation' in Delaware's annual 1
campaign.
Increases in student fees must
be weighed in seeking more rev.
enue for higher education" DR..
Perkins says. "It is especially diff
ficult for public universities to de-
termine just how much fees should
be. They should not be kept so
low, especially if scholarships are
plentiful, that high quality of in
struction cannot be maintained. |
Furthermore, higher d cation
should not be so cheap that stu
dents will feel no compulsion to get
their moneys worth"
Because fees charged to Delaware
students have been increased only
slightly in the last 10 years, uni
versity officials must consider |
higher fees a potential source of
income in the future, DR.. Perkins
writes.
THE children of Delaware par
ents can live on campus for con-
siderably less than in comparable |
universities. All costs considered
fees, board and room, books and in |
Observation-Disclosures youth can at
tend their home university for |
about 10 per cent less than can
students in similar Eastern and |
Midwestern institutions. The Uni |
versity of Delaware should this |
year consider whether il ought to |
raise fees" DR.. Perkins concludes. |
DANGEROUS PLAYTHING