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Columbia  University
New  York  City
October  15,  1925

Tf/ie  Association  of  Unioersity  and  College
Business  Officers  of  the  Eastem  States
The  Committee  on  Student  Loans

Genteemen  :
The  result  of  the  study  on  Student  loans  made  by  the  Student  Loan
Information  Bureau  is  being  transmitted  to  you  for  appropriate  action.
The  study  began  as  one  of  Student  loans  proper,  but  as  the  work  progressed,
  it  was  found  that  the  fundamental  wrong  with  Student  loans
was  not  so  much  the  loans  themselves  as  the  position  which  they  occupy
in  the  financial  policies  of  universities  and  Colleges.  It  was  found  necessary,
  therefore,  to  expand  considerably  the  scope  of  the  study  in  Order
to  treat  the  subject  of  Student  loans  adequately.
The  study  is  divided  into  eight  parts.  The  first,  a  Perspective  on
“Student  Loans  and  The  Business  of  Higher  Education”,  is  a  summary
of  the  seven  parts  which  follow.  It  should  be  valuable  to  those  who  lack
time  to  read  the  entire  work,  since  it  takes  up  the  salient  points  in  digested
form.  Chapters  II  and  III  will  be  of  interest  to  those  who  lean  toward
the  broader  aspects  of  higher  educational  finance.  Chapters  IV,  V  and
VI  will  be  of  interest  to  those  who  are  close  to  the  Student  and  are  responsible
  for  the  administration  of  some  of  the  university  and  College
funds.  Appendices  A  and  B  should  be  of  value  to  those  who  are  working
out  the  mechanism  for  the  administration  of  Student  loans.
In  the  preparation  of  this  study  we  have  received  the  most  generous
Cooperation  from  the  members  of  both  the  Eastern  and  Western  Associations
  of  University  and  College  Business  Officers.  We  must  feel  indebted
  to  them,  since  without  such  Cooperation  in  the  way  of  furnishing
the  desired  material  and  giving  valuable  suggestions  the  work  could  not
have  come  to  a  successful  end.  The  members  of  the  Harmon  Foundation ­
  Staff  have  also  given  untiring  cooperation  and  have  made  available
to  us  all  information  at  their  command.  Miss  Ethel  C.  O’Neill,  who  has
been  associated  with  me,  did  all  the  secretarial  work  connected  with  the
study,  prepared  all  the  graphs  and  charts,  made  the  digest  for  Appendix  B,
and  has  given  constructive  criticism  at  every  step  in  the  work.  The  suggestions ­
  made  by  Mr.  W.  E.  Harmon  and  Professor  Samuel  McCune
Lindsay  of  the  Faculty  of  Political  Science  at  Columbia  University  and