Foreword to Study of Student Loans and Their Relation lo 
Higher Educational Finance 
r EAR ago, in December, 1924, I agreed to finance an independent 
investigation, and study of established Student aid methods, under 
the auspices of the Association of University and College Busi 
ness Officers of the Eastern States. I did so because, from the three- 
year experience of the Harmon Foundation in this field, we feit that 
existing methods of handling eight or ten million dollars of public moneys 
in trust funds for Student aid loans, scholarships, etc., each year by the 
Colleges were often based on doubtful premises, conducted with a poor 
technique, were seriously wasteful and in a very large number of cases 
engendered harmful influences on the character of the recipients. 
Mr. Chassee started with only the most meager outline of data 
embracing the scope of the work to guide him, and obviously without any 
attempt to influence his judgment. His mental attitude was so judicial 
that for three or four months it was impossible to determine the trend 
of his mind in the many Conferences he had with the members of our 
staff, and only as the various chapters or sections of the final report were 
submitted did we realize the extraordinary character of the conclusions. 
The reception of “A Study of Student Loans and Their Relation 
to Higher Educational Finance” by the Association of University and 
College Business Officers of the Eastern States at its annual Conference 
was also a source of great and unexpected satisfaction. A copy of the 
report was sent in typewritten form to each member in advance of the 
meeting and the endorsement of Mr. Chassee’s position was cordial if 
not even enthusiastic. 
The objectives of the Harmon Foundation have been two-fold— 
Service and Education. The Service could be handled with independence 
and in accordance with our convictions because we were using our own 
money. It was necessary, however, to limit our educational program to an 
exhibit of the results of our experience and an expression of our opinion 
when asked for by educators, which happily, has been of almost constant 
occurrence. 
With the “Study of Student Loans and Their Relation to Higher 
Educational Finance” available, prepared by a man with scholastic, scien 
tific, and business training—endorsed as a whole and rejected in no 
particular part by the Association of University and College Business 
Officers of the Eastern States—we feel that culpable or careless methods 
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