104 
A Study of Student Loans and 
repayment, and twenty-nine reported that it was optional with the Student 
as to which method he wished to adopt. 
The same may be said of the method of repayment as has been said 
of the term of the loan. There is no reason for different institutions to 
adopt opposite methods of repayment. That workable method which is 
best for one institution is usually best for the others. Students of all 
Colleges, as a group, go through similar experiences after leaving College 
and the method of repayment which is the most convenient and effective 
for the students of one institution is equally practical for the students 
of other institutions. 
A Student who must borrow to go through College will not, for several 
years, be in a position to pay off a note of a few hundred dollars all at 
once. When an institution requires payment in full at a specified time, it 
is requiring the impossible unless the note falls due four or five years 
after graduation. 
Even then it is a bad policy from the standpoint of the institution 
because although the student cannot pay the entire amount before several 
years have elapsed, he would be able to pay small periodical installments. 
This would keep his interest in the loan alive, would render repayment 
easier for the student, and would make some of the funds available to be 
reloaned sooner. 
The installment method of repayment is by far the best and it need 
not entail as much accounting as might be supposed. There are, how- 
ever, several kinds of installment payments, some of which can be adjusted 
to meet the student’s peculiar needs. The amortized form is no doubt the 
best. It is peculiarly adopted to the student’s economic progress. After 
leaving College, the student will be able to work off increasingly larger 
payments as he becomes better established and his income increases. The 
interest on the loan can thus be included in each payment and will not 
fall due in a large amount at an inopportune time. Since the student will 
be able to make increasingly larger payments, it is right that he be required 
to do so in order that the money be released sooner to be reloaned to new 
students. It may be said in passing that graduates who are able to turn 
their College loans into commercial loans should be encouraged to do so 
in order to make the money available sooner for more loans. It would 
not be difficult to carry out such a policy if graduated students were ap- 
proached in the right manner, individually or through the alumni. 
The size of the payments should be very small at first and gradually 
rise each successive month. Monthly installments are perhaps the best. It 
is a good plan to arrange that payments fall due only during the ten 
academic months. There are two reasons for this: first, the student is 
better able to pay during these months since he must provide for vaca-