56 
A Study of Student Loans and 
Knowledge with an Economic Purpose 
The third division is knowledge with an economic purpose which 
primarily benefits the individual who possesses it. Knowledge of such a 
nature, whether possessed by an individual or Organization has a com- 
mercial value and so its full cost should be paid for by the recipient. 
Philanthropy and society should bear only that portion of the cost of such 
knowledge as to cover only that part of it which is cultural and political. 
Business organizations can be depended upon to furnish the funds for the 
advancement of economic knowledge, and society and philanthropy can 
organize such knowledge in suitable form to be placed on the intellectual 
market for the individual at practically the full cost. Again, it must be 
realized that none of the dividing lines are hard and fast; that there will 
necessarily be some overlapping; that different fields of learning will have 
to be assigned to relative positions; and that there will have to be further 
allocation within each of the three sources of income. 
The Share of Philanthropy 
The distribution of the share which philanthropy bears will necessarily 
be determined by the conditions imposed in restricted endowments and 
gifts. But with definite financial policies the funds forthcoming from 
philanthropy should increase if they are guided into the proper channels 
where their assistance is most needed and where the greatest benefits will 
be derived. A certain donor in a recent conversation has said: 
Institutions of higher learning must not come to me for funds until 
they can show a wiser use and more eflicient way of administering the funds 
they already have. 
The Share of Society 
In the interest of social justice there must be a reapportioning of taxes 
for higher education. 
If the educational reformer will become for a time a Student of taxation 
and finance, the path will be cleared. The continued reliance upon outworn 
methods, the old shibboleth-like increase of assessments, equalization of 
property and the like are in vain. The first condition of progress is an 
appreciation of the real secret of the present failure. 17 
The program includes two remedies, one economic and the other politi 
cal, which means the development of a fiscal System that will respond to 
modern needs and that will tap the resources of the community according 
to the relative ability of the individuals and an apportionment among these 
individuals in accordance with benefits derived from the existence of insti- 27 
27 E. R. A. Seligman, “The Financing of Education,” Educational Administration and Super 
vision, Vol. 8, p. 456, November, 1922.