N0VEMB3B 29, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



731 



completed the secondary school course. 

 Taking these discrepancies into considera- 

 tion, and not losing sight of the fact that 

 large registration is not necessarily syn- 

 onymous with great efficiency or high re- 

 quirements, the impartial observer may 

 nevertheless be able to draw some interest- 

 ing conclusions from the figures herewith 

 presented. 



Comparing the figures for 1907 with 

 those of the previous year, it will be seen 

 that only three institutions have suffered a 

 loss in enrollment, namely, Princeton 

 (3.03 per cent.), Chicago (2.91 per cent.), 

 and Yale (about 1 per cent.), the de- 

 crease in the last case being due to a fall- 

 ing off in the attendance on the summer 

 session, there having been, on the contrary, 

 a gain in the number of students registered 

 in the fall. Last year California, Colum- 

 bia, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern and 

 Stanford all experienced a decrease. The 

 largest gains in terms of student units this 

 year were made by Columbia, New York 

 University, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan 

 and Minnesota ; in other words, by two east- 

 ern and four western institutions, the two 

 New York City universities standing at the 

 head of the list. At Harvard, Nebraska 

 and Virginia the enrollment has remained 

 stationary, while all the other institutions 

 show a fair increase. Comparing this 

 year's enrollment with that of 1902, we 

 notice that every institution included in 

 both tables, with five exceptions, exhibits a 

 growth in registration during the inter- 

 vening period, the exceptions being Cali- 

 fornia, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, North 

 western and Princeton, the largest gains 

 during this five-year period having been 

 made by Pennsylvania, New York Uni- 

 versity, Illinois, Michigan, Syracuse, Cor- 

 nell, Columbia and Missouri, that is, by 

 five eastern and three western institutions. 

 Carrying the comparison a little farther by 

 considering the twelve institutions that 



have made the most consistent gains dur- 

 ing the past five years, we shall find that 

 six of these are located in the east and six 

 in the west, Iowa, Ohio, Minnesota and 

 Yale being the four universities to be 

 added to the eight mentioned above. As 

 pointed out last year, the establishment of 

 summer sessions is responsible for much of 

 this growth in several instances. 



According to the figures for 1906, the 

 twenty-three universities included in the 

 table ranked as follows : Harvard, Chicago, 

 Michigan, Columbia, Cornell, Minnesota, 

 Pennsylvania, Illinois, Yale, New York 

 University, California, Wisconsin, Syra- 

 cuse, -Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio, Mis- 

 souri, Kansas, Stanford, Indiana, Prince- 

 ton, Virginia, Johns Hopkins. Comparing 

 this with the order for 1907, we notice that 

 Columbia has resumed second place, while 

 Michigan has passed Chicago. The 

 changes are fewer this year than they have 

 been for some time, the only other trans- 

 positions being New York University and 

 Yale, Wisconsin and California, Indiana 

 and Stanford, the institution first mentioned 

 in each pair having passed the other since 

 last year. Omitting the summer session 

 registration, the order is somewhat changed, 

 although practically identical with that of 

 last year, the only changes in position be- 

 ing due to the passing of Harvard by 

 Michigan, of Pennsylvania and Cornell by 

 Minnesota, and of Syracuse and California 

 by Wisconsin. The order this fall is as 

 follows: Michigan, Harvard, Columbia, 

 Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Cornell, Illinois, 

 Yale, New York University, Wisconsin, 

 Syracuse, California, Nebraska, North- 

 western, Chicago, Ohio, Iowa, Missouri, 

 Kansas, Stanford, Princeton, Indiana, Vir- 

 ginia, Johns Hopkins. 



An examination of the individual facul- 

 ties reveals the fact that the institutions 

 continue to show a fairly general increase 

 in the attendance on the academic depart- 



