December 26, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



1021 



edge of the development which has taken 

 place in bringing the concepts of science 

 into their present form. 



C. R. Mann. 

 University of Chicago. 



UNIVERSITY REGISTRATION STATISTICS. 



The table on page 1022 furnishes an 

 eloquent criterion of the continuous rapid 

 development of higher education in the 

 United States. The opening of each new 

 academic year shows a marked advance 

 over the last, and the number of young 

 men and women eager to obtain a univer- 

 sity training is keeping steady pace with 

 the rapid growth of our country's popula- 

 tion. It is certainly an encouraging sign 

 to witness this growing endeavor to lead 

 the intellectual or the scientific life, which 

 will inevitably tend to raise the standard 

 of American civilization and general cul- 

 ture. 



The statistics given herewith are, with 

 few exceptions, approximately as of No- 

 vember 1, 1902, and relate to the registra- 

 tion at eighteen of the leading universities 

 throughout the countrj^ It will be noticed 

 that Syracuse University has been added 

 this year for the first time, and the 

 reason for this is self-explanatory. The 

 figures have been obtained from the proper 

 officials of the various institutions con- 

 cerned, and are as accurate as statistics of 

 this nature can be made. A number of 

 changes may occur during the year, but 

 they will not be of such a serious nature as 

 to affect the general result. The question 

 of proper enrolment figures is assuming 

 greater importance each year, and it goes 

 without saying that there is a tendency to 

 attain as much uniformity as possible in 

 the methods employed at the various uni- 

 versities. At the annual meeting of the 

 Association of American Universities, to be 

 held under the auspices of Columbia Uni- 



versity in New York city on December 29,. 

 30 and 31, 1902, a representative of Co- 

 lumbia will present a paper on the subject 

 of 'Uniformity of University Statistics* 

 which should bring out some interesting 

 facts relating to this matter. The question 

 of double registration, for example, pre- 

 sents more than one perplexing problem,, 

 and a number of universities are endeavor- 

 ing to eliminate enrolment in two faculties 

 from their figures altogether by simply- 

 taking into consideration the primary 

 registration. One great obstacle in the- 

 path of this desire is the number of summer 

 session students who return for work in 

 the fall, of which there were this year 291 

 at Cornell, 139 at Harvard, 210 at Colum- 

 bia, and so forth. These students were- 

 not registered in two faculties, and yet they 

 caused duplication. In the ease of several 

 universities this was lost sight of altogether- 

 in last year's compilation, and the apparent 

 falling off in the total enrolment of Har- 

 vard, Michigan, and Cornell is due to this 

 circumstance. On the whole, there has^ 

 been a noticeable increase shown in the 

 summer session enrolment throughout the 

 country, and this particiilar feature of 

 university work seems to be meetiiig with 

 popular favor. 



Last year the relative rank of the seven- 

 teen leading universities on the basis of 

 total enrolment was as follows: Harvard,. 

 Columbia, Michigan, Chicago, California, 

 Minnesota, Cornell, Wisconsin, Yale, Penn- 

 sylvania, Northwestern, Indiana, Nebraska, 

 Missouri, Princeton, Leland Stanford,. 

 Johns Hopkins. 



If we count in the students attending- 

 courses for teachers, who are held to the- 

 full requirements of regular courses in 

 Teachers College," it Avill be seen that Co- 

 lumbia has passed the 5,000 mark and has- 

 almost reached Harvard. Chicago has had 

 a considerable increase over last year, has- 



