i2 4 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



being heavily mortgaged for the present. After the civil war, a vast 

 army of students entered our colleges; the fees were increased some- 

 what in many cases, but not in proportion to the cost, and the system 

 of free scholarships became an important feature almost everywhere. 

 More buildings, more and attractive grounds, were acquired and in 

 time a large share of the income went toward mere maintenance of the 

 property. To make matters worse, the colleges soon suffered an actual 

 loss of income, for owing to the decreasing rates of interest, the endow- 

 ments, such as they were, became less and less productive, while, in 

 addition, the broadening of the curriculum compelled greatly increased 

 expenditure. Fifty years ago there were institutions doing excellent 

 work for the times with only six or seven salaried men in the faculty, 

 averaging one instructor in some cases to forty students, whereas to-day 

 the multiplicity of courses requires an instructor to every ten or even 

 less students. 



Increasing outgo without corresponding income must be at some- 

 body's expense, and, in this case, that somebody is the college in- 

 structor. Not that in every case the salary of a professor has been 

 reduced in order to pay the cost of dividing his chair, so that the 

 college may receive twice as much work for the same money — though 

 this is not unknown — but that a newly appointed man in many cases 

 receives less salary than his predecessor. It is by no means rare for a 

 college, on the retirement of a professor, to divide the chair, employ- 

 ing young men at salaries which, combined, amount to little more 

 than the single salary fixed many years before. Even so, not a few 

 of our colleges have alarming deficits at the end of each year. 



No doubt this arouses astonishment and some may be disposed to 

 ask, in view of the immense gifts for educational work made during 

 the last twenty-five years, if such a condition of things does not prove 

 incompetence in the business management of colleges. Not at all; the 

 error is not in that. The financial management, in most instances, is 

 beyond criticism, more, it deserves the highest praise, and in many 

 institutions the trustees are not merely competent, they are devoted 

 and conscientious, dealing with college business as with their own. As 

 the most caustic reflections upon college management usually come 

 from alumni, the writer may be pardoned for a slight digression. 



Alumni who contribute a few dollars a year toward the support 

 of alma mater's glee or athletic clubs are apt to take their display of 

 affection altogether too seriously. They seem to feel convinced that 

 by attending the college and by securing a degree, whether deserved or 

 not, they have placed their college under such material obligation that 

 they should have a large voice in its control. This notion, which 

 would be grotesque were its effects not so serious, is due perhaps to the 

 constant hunt for students and to the prevalent opinion that the suc- 

 cess of a college is measured by the number in attendance. But the 



