60 
A Study of Student Loans 
The objection will be made in some quarters that such a policy would 
make it impossible for the less well-to-do Student to receive a higher educa- 
tion. There is no foundation for this. The policy here advocated would 
add relatively little to the student’s annual expenses and the desirable 
Student would be able to meet these additional expenses if a well worked-out 
program for aid to students were installed. The means for Student aid are 
many at present and new ones can be devised. For instance, a higher edu- 
cation is the only product having a commercial value which has not availed 
itself of the opportunities offered by the modern institution of credit. The 
type of enrollment need not be changed by increased tuition and fees if, 
at the time such a policy is introduced, a well worked-out plan of Student 
assistance is put into Operation. 
At some institutions it is believed that with a sufificient amount of 
endowments and a limited enrollment, the financial ills will have been done 
away with and tuition can be kept at a fixed and nominal level. This is, no 
doubt, a very sound view and perhaps one which should be adopted for 
both financial and educational reasons. But the fact remains that there is 
a growing number of young people seeking a College and university educa- 
tion who must be cared for. This is necessary in the interest of the 
advancement of learning and a progressive society. As the economic, 
political, and cultural phases of our civilization grow and become more 
complex, there will be need of an increasing number of trained individuals 
who will seek to understand the guiding principles of our civilization; and 
thus be in a position to direct human endeavor accordingly. The increase 
in the absolute number of College trained people is not the criterion of 
sound policy, but the proportion of the population which is receiving a 
College education must be used as a measure to determine whether insti 
tutions of higher learning are leading civilization or merely following it. 
It is the common error of thinking in absolute terms rather than in terms 
of ratios. 
If the institutions of higher learning now in existence close their 
doors against the increasing numbers that seek admittance, new institu 
tions will have to be established and the same financial problems will arise. 
Or, on the other hand, large numbers will fail to get the necessary training 
to be in a position to guide human efforts and instead of progress, Stagna 
tion and retardation will set in. It is therefore a problem which must be 
confronted and means devised to solve it.