18

A  Study  of  Student  Loans  and

by  little,  however,  the  secular  interests  came  to  the  forefront.  Until  the
middle  of  the  sixteenth  Century,  the  time  of  Martin  Luther,  it  was  the
religious  motive  which  controlled  the  Situation  and  so  no  distinction  can
really  be  made  between  the  financial  support  of  education  and  that  of
religion.  This  religious  motive  remained  the  dominant  one  until  the
latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  Century  and  so  religious  denominations  were
the  chief  source  of  support. 3  New  motives  were  gradually  introduced.
Higher  education  began  to  be  looked  upon  as  having  a  cultural  value,  an
influence  on  citizenship,  and  finally  an  economic  value.  These  new  motives
furnished  an  argument  for  new  sources  of  support  and  so  wealthy  individuals
  left  endowments  for  certain  schools  of  learning;  the  States  assumed
educational  responsibilities;  and  finally  the  Student  was  asked  to  pay  his
share  of  higher  education.  The  religious  motive  as  the  sole  motive  for
higher  education,  was  first  challenged  by  Martin  Luther.
Martin  Luther  and  the  New  Motives
Martin  Luther  pointed  out  that:
even  though  there  were  neither  soul,  heaven,  nor  hell,  it  would
still  be  necessary  to  have  schools  for  the  sake  of  affairs  here  below,  as  the
history  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans  plainly  teaches.  The  world  has  need  of
educated  men  and  women  to  the  end  that  the  men  may  govern  the  country
properly,  and  that  the  women  may  properly  bring  up  their  children  and  direct
the  affairs  of  their  households. 4
Luther  further  pointed  out  and  insisted  in  his  teachings  that:
schooling  was  to  be  brought  to  all  the  people,  noble  and  common,
rieh  and  poor;  it  was  to  include  both  boys  and  girls,  and  finally  the  state  was
to  use  compulsion  if  necessary. 5
Martin  Luther’s  doctrines  formed  the  opening  wedge  for  a  program
of  state  support  for  education  in  general  and  gradually  for  higher
education.
Beginning  of  State  Support
Luther,  therefore,  was  in  a  large  measure  responsible  for  the  propagation
  of  the  idea  of  a  state  system  of  secondary  schools  together  with
institutions  of  higher  learning  which  developed  in  Germany.  This  was
the  first  state  support  given  to  higher  learning  and  it  was  brought  about
by  a  changed  purpose  in  higher  education.  The  next  state  to  take
interest  in  the  support  of  higher  education  was  France.  In  this  country
higher  education  was  the  first  division  of  learning  to  be  favored  by  state
support,  for  in  1806  the  University  of  France  was  established  which
included  in  itself,  practically  as  a  department  of  the  National  Govern*Ibid„ ­

  p.  729.
4  Monroe—Op.  Cit.,  p.  410.
5  Ibid.,  p.  412.