UNIVERSITY REFORM.

Otago Witness, Issue 2934, 8 June 1910, Page 45

UNIVERSITY REFORM.

THE COST OF THE UNIVERSITY. By Professor T. H. Laby, of Victoria College, Wellington. I. There are many ways of judging the value of a University to a community, but most of them are not intelligible to the ordinary reader. After 40 years’ existence New Zealand University has created such ideals here that the community—even the University’s own graduates—are generally .unable to fully appreciate the ideas and spirit of a true University. How is one to convince such an audience that the University requires its attention? The argument of cash value, though unsatisfactory, is the only effective one available. THE YEARLY COST. I give below a tentative statement of the University’s income and capital cost: the figures for th«. former can be ascertained with rough accuracy, for the latter only the roughest approximation can be made, as no official statement of capital amounts exists. The following table has been checked by Mr Skinner, of Victoria College

Thus New Zealand spends £60?000 per year, or 14d per head of the population, each year on her University. How that compares with other similar newly-settled States will be seen below :

YEARLY INCOME. University. Population. Income. Income per head. California! 1,500,000 (1900) £100;000 (1902) 17d Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2,200,000 (1900) 140,000 (1908) 15d New Zealand 1,000,000 (1910) 60,000 (1908) 14d 9d* * When so corrected as to be comparable with the centralised Universities of California and Toronto. tTEis is the State University: California has also the famous Leland Stanford University.

VALUE OBTAINED FOR THE OUTLAi. It might appear at first sight that after all New Zealand is libei’al in its University expenditure: and such is strictly true. But the point is not what we spend, but what we obtain for the expenditure. The following analysis wilt, give some idea of what value we get 'for our outlay. While arts and science are taught at all four university colleges, law, mining, engineering, dentistry, and medicine are taught practically wholly in only one centre, and so presumably as cheaply as if they were all taught in the central University. But that is not true of arts and science, for which we keep up four buildings, four libraries and laboratories, four staffs of teachers, etc. Thus there is no quadruplication in the first group below:— SPECIALISATION OUTLAY. £ 60,000 (1908) lid University Scholarships .. ... ._ ~ £3,800 College Scholarships .. 1,657 Medical School (Otago) .. ... ~ 3,637 Dental School (Otago) 1,215 Mining School (Otago) 1,915 Engineering School (Christchurch)- .. 6,938 Law (Wellington) say 2,000 Mining (Auckland) say .. ~ .. 2,000 £23,200 Arts and Science, etc., quadrupled outlay .. .. .. .. .. tdi,Boo Total .. £60,000

Now, this last £37,000 is spent in teaching some 600 to 700 arts and science students distributed over four centres; it is highly probable that it does not obtain as efficient teaching as £15.000 spent in one central institution. Thus, compared with the centralised universities in California and Toronto, we are only obtanilijg £38.000, or 9d per head, worth of education for £60,000 expenditure. In other words, if the people of New Zealnd determine to continue their four university colleges and very expansive external examination, they must be prepared to. spend about £IOO.OOO to Obtain the same efficiency of teaching as would be obtained by spending £60,000 on one central inf.titution. (Personally, I think the colleges should remain, but the external examination be discontinued.) It is impossible to have decentralisation and efficiency at a low cost in University work. It is noteworthy that : (1) Th-i University examining—mere testing ox knowledge—costs (£6800) nearly, as much as the teaching (£7200) at Auckland University College, which specialises in mining. The only well-paid servant of the University is the English examiner. (2) The Medical School costs yearly £3637. It had 82 students in ISOB. (5) The Engineering School spends £6940 yea,rly for 32 students. Engineering is one of the few subjects taught well. (4) £32,000 is spent on 720 students in the Soiuth Island university colleges, which specialise on subjects expensive to teach; £17,000 on the North Island colleges, with 770 students attending lectures. In this article I have endeavoured to show that we obtain yearly about 9d pe* head worth of University education, while Ontario, Canada, spends 15d, California 17d. In a later article I shall show that in capital expenditure we are far. behind' the State of New South Wales. I owe some readers an apology for such a v n extremely utilitarian argument as is used here, but other arguments are unintelligible to many.

THE UNIVERSITY AND UNIVERSITY COLLEGES OF NEW ZEALAND, INCOME FOR 1908. From Univ. Auckland. Vic. Col. Canterbury. Otago. Total. £ £ £ £ £ £ Government . 4,800 6,070 7,560 2,620 2,000 23,000 Private foundation 70 180 ' 135 8 950 1,350 Provincial endowment . 950 500 50 9,540 7,800 18.850 Fees . 5,900 1,73011,950 3,620 ' 4,120 17,300 Total income .. . . 11,700 8,480 9,700 15,800 14,900 60,560 EXPENDITURE, 1908. £ £ £ £ £ £ Salaries 3,190 6,320 11,570 11,970 39,820 Administration and Maintenance .. . 2,000 1,620 2,300 3,860 3,560 13,340 Scholarships . 3,830 215 990 400 50 5,490 Library — 160 380 50 40 630 Total expenditure . . 10,610 7,180, 9,990 15,880 15,620 59,290 fees. tFees for 1909.