THE AGE OF COLLEGE OEADUATION. 



163 



former is preferable to the latter as the measure in our present study. 

 Inasmuch, however, as the arithmetical mean is the one in most com- 

 mon use, and further, as some may still feel that it, if investigated, 

 would show the rise that has been supposed to exist, we will consider 

 the data and results that Table III. shows. In this table are shown 



Table III. 

 Average Age of Graduation foe the Past Fifty Years. 



Dartmouth ... 

 Middlebury .. 



Bowdoin 



Vermont 



Adalbert 



U. of Ala 



N. Y. U 



Wesleyan 



Oberlin 



DePauw 



Syracuse 



Av. of Totals 



Cases. 



5362 



1386 



2797 



1003 



1048 



949 



860 



1933 



1392 



1185 



751 



the arithmetical averages of each college by decades, supposing that 

 the students graduating at any given year of age, say 32, are about 

 equally distributed throughout the months of the year, thus giving an 

 average for the given year of, say 22.5 years. With small numbers, 



7' 



2ff 



30 

 IS 



this assumption is not without its liability to error ; but with numbers 

 so large as we have, the errors are found by actual trial practically to 

 negative each other ; so that we can rely upon the results as being, for 

 all practical purposes, and in the main, substantially correct. 



