INCREASE IN NUMBER OF STUDENTS

During the past ten years the students attending at Madison have more than doubled. In 1903-4, in all departments of the University the number of students was 3,164; for the year 1913-14 the number was 6,765. As showing the range of the work of the students and the growth of development, the following table is inserted:

Table showing number and distribution of students at beginning and ending of a decade.

Without commenting in detail upon the above table, the following points are noticeable:

First, is the great growth in a decade of the College of Letters and Science, from 1,325 to 2,653. Also in this college the Courses in Journalism, Chemistry, and the Training of Teachers have been organized. However, the greatest change is in the College of Agriculture, the students of which college, meeting the regular requirements for entrance to the University, have increased in numbers from 60 to 1,022. In this college the Mid

dle Course and the Home Economics Course have been organized. The College of Engineering, with fluctuations, has remained substantially stationary. The Medical School has been organized. The attendance in the Law School has somewhat decreased; but this is explained by the fact that the entrance requirements have been advanced by two years of college work. The number in the School of Music has decreased; but this has been due to the elimination of students not of college grade.

THE NUMBER OF DEGREES GRANTED

But perhaps the most striking evidence of the growth of the University and the importance of its work during the past ten years is furnished by the number who have completed their courses and taken their places in the various communities of the state and the country. The facts in this respect are shown by the number of degrees which have been granted. The table below gives the number of degrees granted by the University since its foundations to ten years ago, for the last five bienniums, and the totals since the foundation of the University to the end of 1913-14.

From this table it appears that the number of degrees granted by the University during the past ten years is 6,406. This is greater than the number granted from the foundation of the University to ten years ago. Since the instructional work is roughly in proportion to the number of degrees granted, it is probable that the absolute quantity of instructional work for the last five bienniums is about equivalent to that which was done throughout the history of the University of 1904.

There is probably no better gauge of the value of the work of

an institution than the number and character of the degrees which have been granted. An examination of the above table shows that the number of first degrees for the past decade is not quite as large as the number for the previous history of the University. For the Master's degree and the professional degree of Engineer, the number in each case is over three times as great for the past ten years as during the previous history of the University. The degree of Doctor of Philosophy is the highest degree in course. It is the one which more than any other represents the stage of development of the University in the advancement of knowledge in the world. It is significant that for this degree also, as well as the other advanced degrees, almost three times as many have been granted during the past ten years as was granted from the foundation of the University until ten years ago.

CONCLUSION

Concluding this report I repeat the conclusion contained in Bulletin 666 of the University published at the end of the biennium.

"In conclusion it may be said that the cost of the University although large, is more than justified by results. The state has been liberal to the University; but the University, in turn, has rendered rich service to the commonwealth. It is safe to say that if the state had been less liberal to the University than it has been in the past, today the state would be poorer in consequence. In short, appropriations by the state for the University have been returned manifold, and will continue to be returned in the future in even larger measure. Can any other investments made by the state show larger dividends even from the material point of view?

"However, it is not from the material point primarily that the University is to be judged. It is the fundamental purpose of the University to train men and women so that they will be powerful factors in the advancement of the commonwealth.

"The College of Letters and Science is the trunk of the University. Until thirty years ago, with the exception of the beginnings of one or two of the professional schools, it constituted the University. Out of this college have grown, as branches,

the various professional schools, some of which have been organized as independent colleges and others of which still remain in the college as definite courses.

"The College of Letters and Science is the college which does the general educational work of the University, both for the students registered in that college and for the students in the professional schools. Also in the College of Letters and Science . there have been organized a number of professional courses which in other institutions are usually organized as separate schools and colleges.

"The close relations between the college of liberal arts and the schools of applied knowledge are most fortunate, in that it has given to the students in the vocational schools something of the spirit of that college.

"Until rather recently the law, medicine, and ministry have been regarded, as the only learned professions. Now that engineering, agriculture, home economics, etc., are taught as sciences, they have become professions. These vocations in former times were essentially manual arts. Now that they involve training in the fundamental sciences, the emphasis in these vocations is transferred to mental work. Thus the Babcock test does not simply give material wealth. Because it requires an understanding of scientific methods as applied to dairy products, it gives to the dairymen a broader intellectual life. Similarly, household duties, which of necessity involve endless repetition of the same things, become more interesting when placed on a scientific basis.

"It is the aim of the University not only in its college of liberal arts, but in all its schools of applied knowledge, to give men and women, trained both at Madison and through extension, a broader intellectual horizon. These men and women contribute to the intellectual advancement of the state. They not only increase its wealth, but they turn the wealth into social channels. For the highest social development material prosperity is essential.

"Therefore, while the material annual gain to the state, due to the University, amounts to many millions of dollars, these gains, however large, are subordinate to its work in developing thousands of men and women for service to the state and nation. All materials produced by man are for man. If, then, the University were to add material wealth to the state and neglect her

citizens, it would leave unperformed its most important function. The development of well-trained, efficient, high-minded men must ever be the central purpose of the University. They are indeed the soul among its creations, without which all else is of no avail. Such men are found throughout the state. In no small measure the prestige of Wisconsin among the commonwealths of the United States is due to their work.

CHARLES R. VAN HISE,

President of the University.