New Student
American youth applied at the doors of colleges and universities in increased numbers during the last year. Like Ford cars and a certain brand of cigarettes, higher education is to have its millions of satisfied users. Eighty of the most important colleges and universities alone offered their educational wares to almost a half million customers during the year 1924. The steady increase in registration is paralleled by increases in gifts and appropriations for the upkeep and expansion of our educational institutions.
Eighty-three of the leading colleges and universities in the United States how have 245,248 students. This is 15,299 more than they had a year ago. This list contains only those students who have no present occupation besides going to college. It does not include those enrolled in evening courses, extension classes or summer schools. The list is a representative one including small denominational colleges, state universities, small co-educational colleges and colleges for women exclusively.
Big Increase
In these colleges the increase in attendance for the last year has been 6 ½ per cent. Although the increase is not as large as in that period immediately following the war, it is much larger than the increase in population.
In 1910 there were just two colleges listed with more than 5,000 full time students apiece. Three others had more than 4,000 and four others had more than 3,000. The 10 largest combined had a total enrollment of less than 43,000. Today there are registered in these 10 institutions more than 101,000 students.
Comparing this 101,000 with the 144,000 in the other colleges shows an increasing concentration the larger universities. At the University of Illinois, for instance, an enrollment of 25,000 may be realized in the near future. The University of California, the largest educational institution in the world, is attempting to cope with this over centralization by establishing branches. Of its 15,337 students in full time attendance, 5,932 attend the Southern branch.
40,000 At California
In addition to these students California has 10428 in the summer session 10,759 in extension classes, 1,431 being taught practical agriculture, and 2,971 taking correspondence courses. This makes a staggering total of nerly 40,000 students receiving instruction in some way or other from the university.
At the 83 foremost colleges and universities, the total enrollment at summer school is 160,000 and at extension school 125,000. Add this number to the 245,000 full time students and we find these 83 institutions dealing out instruction to almost half a million persons during the last year.
With the ever increasing army of education seeking youngsters on their hands the main preoccupation everywhere is how to raise more money to build more buildings and equip more classrooms. Forty of the 83 colleges have large size building programs either under way or recently completed. Among them are Harvard, with a $5 million business school; University of Iowa, a $4.5 million medical center; Western Reserve, a $2.5 million school of medicine.
Building Programs
Many of the building programs have been made possible as the result of large gifts by millionaires, James B. Duke, George Eastman, George F. Baker, and others. The University of Chicago has inaugurated a campaign to double its present resources of $50 million. Many state legislatures will be asked for large appropriations for state universities. Ohio State is to ask for approximately $16 million during the next biennium. The Universities of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Carolina are also expecting funds from similar sources.
From page 4 of the Maroon and Gold, student newspaper at Elon College, Feb. 4, 1925
newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/2015236757/1925-02-04/ed-1/seq-4/#words=FEBRUARY+4%2C+1925
No comments:
Post a Comment