CHAPTER  V
FINANCING  THE  STUDENT
After  studying  bcrth  students  and  loans  from  the  standpoint  of
the  institution,  it  is  well  to  look  at  the  student’s  problem  from  his  own
viewpoint.  This  problem  of  the  Student  has  various  phases  in  some
of  which  he  has  already  received  aid.  However,  he  has  received  little
systematic  assistance  in  his  financial  difficulties.  This  is  of  great  concern
to  him  and  in  Order  that  his  relation  to  the  institution  may  be  more
harmonious  it  is  important  that  the  institution  give  him  assistance  and
guidance  in  this  matter.
The  Student’s  Problem
There  is  in  university  life  not  only  the  problem  of  the  Student,  but
the  student’s  problem  as  well.  The  former  is  the  only  one  which  has
been  receiving  due  attention.  College  and  university  officials  and  faculties
have  looked  upon  the  mission  of  higher  education  as  one  which  should
help  the  Student  along  lines  intended  to  develop  his  character  and  to  mould
him  into  a  finished  product.  In  their  zeal  toward  this  end  the  academic
side  of  student  life  has  grown  rapidly,  while  ample  provisions  have  also
been  made  for  the  social,  moral,  and  physical  welfare  of  the  Student.
It  can  be  said  with  certainty  that  these  phases  of  his  College  life  have
received  more  and  better  guidance  than  have  what  may  be  called  his  personal ­
  economics.  Faculties,  ccmsisting  of  men  foremost  in  their  respective
fields,  have  been  built  up  to  care  for  academic  training;  much  religious  zeal
has  been  displayed  in  student  guidance;  most  social  activities  are  receiving
increased  attention;  physical  training  has  certainly  not  been  neglected;
but  financial  instruction  has  been  slighted.  Where  some  attention  has
been  given  to  such  training,  and  only  recently  has  this  been  true,  it
has  occupied  a  very  small  part  in  the  entire  policy  of  the  institution.  It  has
never  been  properly  studied  and  as  a  result  never  been  intelligently  cared
for.  This  is  the  phase  of  the  student’s  problem  which  relates  itself  closely
to  student  loans.  It  may  rightfully  be  called  “personal  economics”  or
“personal  finance”.
Personal  Economics  or  Finance
Education  in  the  management  of  his  personal  affairs  is  of  importance
in  making  the  student’s  training  more  complete. 38  The  institution  should
38  “If  we  really  could  know  our  students,  in  their  minds,  their  temperaments,  their  economic
situations,  their  health,  their  ambitions,  it  is  altogether  likely  that  we  could  admit  a  freshman  dass
P^^'tenths  of  which  would  graduate.  .  .  _  .  We  must  not  only  know  the  level  of  their  native
Intelligence  .  .  .  but  we  must  learn  their  biologic  and  economic  background,  their  significant
interest,  their  ambitions  and  their  characters.”  Dean  Herbert  E.  Hawkes  of  Columbia  College  in
his  Annual  Report  for  1925,  p.  17.  gC  ln