Comparing diagram VI (p. 766), showing the ratio of institutions in the several divisions with the above diagram, it will readily be seen that the institutions of the North Atlantic Division are more generously endowed than those of the other divisions of the country. The institutions in this section are, comparatively speaking, old institutions with well-established reputations, having alumni scattered throughout the entire country. The rich man with money to give for educational purposes naturally turns to his alma mater, and, if he is not a college graduate, he designates an institution or institutions with well-established reputations. Thus the older institutions are constantly receiving large and numerous benefactions. The gifts and bequests to colleges and universities amounted in 1889-90 to $6,006,474, the distribution of which is shown in the following diagram:

9.1%

7.8%

3.4%

100

XI.-Diagram showing the proportion of benefactions received by the colleges and universities of the several divisions.

100

50

The institutions of the North Atlantic Division received, as will be seen, 45.5 per cent of the total amount. The advantages possessed by this division in the matter of productive funds and benefactions are somewhat offset in some of the other divisions by State appropriations for current expenses.

The total amount of State or municipal appropriations in 1889-90 amounted to $1,406,117, distributed as follows:

North Atlantic Division.

12.2%

South Atlantic Division.

South Central Division.

North Central Division.

61.8%

Western Division.

100

50

100

XII-Diagram showing the proportion of State or municipal appropriations received by the colleges and universities of the several divisions.

The North Atlantic Division reports 11.2 per cent of the appropriations here considered. Nearly the whole of this was received by the College of the City of New York from the city of New York, which it serves as a high school. The North Central Division reports 61.8 per cent of the total. In this division State universities have met with considerable favor, and the States have, as a rule, dealt with them very generously. It will also be seen that a' though nearly all the States comprising the South Central Division have State universities, the amount appropriated for their support was exceedingly small. They depend chiefly for their support upon students' fees and the income from productive funds. In a large number of the State universities tuition is free to residents of the State, and in the few cases where tuition is not free the charges have been made as low as the resources of the institutions would allow.

III.-DISTRIBUTION OF STUDENTS IN DEGREE COURSES.

Table 2, page 773, presents, in a form convenient for comparison, the distribution of undergraduate students in the several degree courses for the successive years from 1886-87 to 1889-90. During the past few years the statistics necessary for the compilation of this summary have been given by the different institutions with a marked degree of accuracy and in considerable detail, thus enhancing the value of this representation.

The summary furnishes an indication of the trend of college education, which is virtually determined by the relative predominance of different courses of study for a period of time.

From an examination of the statistics included in this table it appears that the ratio of students in what is known as the classical or A. B. course is slightly decreasing. The greatest decrease is shown in the South Central Division, where the ratio in the classical or A. B. course has dropped from 59 per cent in 1886-87 to 47.9 per cent in 1889-90. It will also be seen that the South Atlantic Division continues to draw a larger ratio of its students to the A. B. course than any other section of the country. The movement here indicated, i. e., the decrease of students in the A. B. course, will not be a urprise to anyone who has studied the subject of collegiate education in America during recent years. The colleges and universities of the country are continually forming new courses of study for which evidently there is a demand. But, notwithstanding the multiplication of courses leading to degrees other than the A. B., the number of students pursuing the A. B. course is still greater than the sum of all the students pursuing other degree courses.

The degree of A. B. does not at present necessarily imply that its possessor has acquired a classical education, for there are institutions that confer this degree on the completion of courses of study in which neither Latin nor Greek are included.

It is a matter of great regret that statistics showing the classification of students by courses for a long period of years can not be obtained. In making comparisons the data used should be for at least a period of ten years, so that temporary fluctuations of any sort whatsoever would be avoided. But, since such complete data do not exist, the reader and investigator must content himself with the briefer record.

A glance at the statistics will show that the percentage of students pursuing regular degree courses has increased with considerable regularity since 1886-87, the time when these statistics were first collected. It will also be noted that it is in the older portions of the country, the North and South Atlantic Divisions, in which the classical course has the deepest hold upon college students, while in the more recently settled regions more attention is given to the sciences and courses of study in which the ancient classics seldom find a place.

TABLE 2.-Distribution of college students in the regular degree courses from 1886-87 to 1889–90.

1886-87.

1887-88.

TABLE 2.-Distribution of college students in the regular degree courses from 1886-87 to 1889-90-Continued.