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 commercial
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 political,
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 Supervision,
Vol. 8, p. 456, November, 1922.
