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EXPENSES AT HARVARD.
AN AD ID RESS
BY
PROFESSOR GEORGE HERBERT PALMER
25efore Barbaro (Brabuateg,
COMMEN C E MENT DAY, 1887.
CA. M. B R II) (3 E :
J O H N WILSO N A N D
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1887.


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EXPEN SES AT HARWARD.
AN ADDRESS
BY
PROFESSOR GEORGE HERBERT PALMER
25efore barbaro Graduates,
COMMEN CEMENT DAY, 1887.
CAMIBIRIDGE:
JoHN WILSON AND so N.
Cămiuträſtg |}regg.
1887.
PR. E. F. ATO R. Y NOT E.
THE undersigned, believing that those graduates
who were absent from Commencement dinner
will be interested to learn the important facts pre-
sented at that time by Professor Palmer, have obtained
from him a corrected copy of his speech, and now
distribute it, in the hope that its figures, if widely
known, may do something to ease the way of poor
boys ambitious of a Harvard training, and that they
may also rectify some features in that popular portrait
of a Harvard student which has about the same rela-
tion to the living reality as the stage Yankee has to
the average citizen of Boston.
HENRY LEE.
CHARLES P. BOW DITCH.
JOSEPH B. WARNER.
ARCHIBALD M. HOWE.
Boston, July, 1887.
Persons wishing other copies of the pamphlet can obtain them,
without charge, by addressing
ARCHIBALD M. HOWE,
25 Congress Street,
Room 3. BosTON.
182423
COLLEGE EXPENSES AT HARWARD."
THE subject of college expenses has been much debated
lately. At our Commencement dinner, a year ago,
attention was called to it. Our chairman on that occasion
justly insisted that the ideal of the University should be plain
living and high thinking. And certainly there is apt to be
something vulgar, as well as vicious, in the man of books who
turns away from winning intellectual wealth and indulges in
tawdry extravagance. Yet every friend of Harvard is obliged
to acknowledge with shame that the loose spender has a
lodging in our yard. No clear-sighted observer can draw
near and not perceive that in all his native hideousness the
man of the club and the dog-cart is among us.
I do not think this strange. In fact, I regard it as inevi-
table. It is necessarily connected with our growth. The old
College we might compare, for moral and intellectual range,
with a country village; our present University is a great city,
and we must accept the many-sided life, the temptations as
well as the opportunities, of the great city. Probably no-
where on this planet can a thousand young men be found,
between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four, who will not
show examples of the heedless, the temptable, and the de-
praved, Let us not, then, shrink from acknowledging the
ugly fact; extravagance is here, — shameless, coarse extrav-
agance. I hope nothing I say may diminish our sense of its
1 Delivered in Memorial Hall, Cambridge, June 29, 1887.
6 COLLEGE EXPENSES AT HARWARD.
indecency. But how widespread is it? We must not lose
sight of that important question. How largely does it infect
the College 7 Are many students large spenders ? Must a
man of moderate means on coming here be put to shame 3
Will he find himself a disparaged person, out of accord with
the spirit of the place, and unable to obtain its characteristic
advantages? These are the weighty questions. Only after
we have answered them can we determine the moral sound-
ness of the University. Wherever we go on earth we shall
find the insolently rich and wasteful. They, like the poor,
are always with us; their qualities are cheap. But what
we want to know is whether, side by side with them, we have
a company of sober men, who care for higher things and who
spend no more than the higher things require. Facts of pro-
portion and degree form the firm basis of general judgments,
and yet I am aware that these are the hardest facts to obtain.
Hitherto nobody has known any such facts in regard to the
expenses of Harvard. Assertions about the style of living
here have only expressed the personal opinion of the assertor,
or at best have been generalizations from a few chance cases.
No systematic evidence on the subject has existed. It is
time it did exist, and I have made an attempt to obtain it.
To each member of the graduating class I sent a circular, a
month ago, asking if he would be willing to tell me in confi-
dence what his college course had cost. I desired him to
include in his report all expenses whatever. He was to state
not merely his tuition, board, and lodging, but also his furni-
ture, books, clothing, travel, subscriptions, and amusements;
in fact, every dollar he had spent during the four years of his
study, except his charges for Class Day and the summer vaca-
tions; these times varying so widely, it seemed to me, in
their cost to different men that they could not instructively
enter into an average.
The reply has been very large indeed. To my surprise,
out of a class of two hundred and thirty-five men actually in
residence, two hundred and nineteen, or ninety-three per cent,
COLLEGE EXPENSES AT HARVARD. 7
have sent reports. Am I wrong in supposing that this very
general “readiness to tell” is itself a sign of upright con-
duct 2 But I would not exaggerate the worth of the returns.
They cannot be trusted to a figure. It has not been possible
to obtain itemized statements. College boys, like other peo-
ple, do not always keep accounts. But I requested my cor-
respondents, in cases of uncertainty, always to name the
larger figure; and though those who have lived freely prob-
ably have less knowledge about what they have spent than
have their economical classmates, I think we may accept
their reports in the rough. We can be reasonably sure
whether they have exceeded or fallen below a certain me-
dium line, and for purposes more precise I shall not attempt
to use them. Anything like minute accuracy I wish ex-
pressly to repudiate. The evidence I offer only claims to
be the best that exists at present; and I must say that the
astonishing frankness and fulness of the reports give me
strong personal assurance of the good faith of the writers.
In these letters I have seen a vivid picture of the struggles,
the hopes, the errors, and the repentings of the manly young
lives that surround me. -
What, then, are the results 2 Out of the two hundred and
nineteen men who have replied, fifty-six, or about one quarter
of the class, have spent between $450 and $650 in each of the
four years of residence; fifty-four, or again about a quarter,
have spent between $650 and $975; but sixty-one, hardly
more than a quarter, have spent a larger sum than $1,200.
The smallest amount in any one year was $400; the largest,
$4,000.1
1 Perhaps I had better mention the adjustments by which these results have
been reached. When a man has been in college during only the closing years of
the course, I assume that he would have lived at the same rate had he been here
throughout it. I have added $150 for persons who board at home, and another
hundred for those who lodge there. Though I asked to have the expenses of
Class Day and the summer vacations omitted, in some instances I have reason to
suspect that they are included; but of course I have been obliged to let the error
remain, and I have never deducted the money which students often say they
8 COLLEGE EXPENSES AT HARWARD.
I ask you to consider these figures. They are mot start-
ling, but they seem to me to indicate that a soberly sensible
average of expense prevails at Harvard. They suggest that
students are, after all, merely young men temporarily re-
moved from homes, and that they are practising here, with-
out violent change, the habits which the home has formed.
Those who have been accustomed to large expenditure, spend
freely here; those of quiet and considerate habits do not
lightly abandon them. I doubt if during the last twenty-five
years luxury has increased in the colleges as rapidly as it
has in the outside world.
There is no reason, either, to suppose that the addition of
the sixteen men who have not replied would appreciably affect
my results. The standing of these men on the last annual
rank-list was sixty-eight per cent. They seem to me average
persons. Their silence I attribute to mistakes of the mail, to
business, to neglect, or to the very natural disinclination to dis-
close their private affairs. To refuse to answer my intrusive
questions, or even to acknowledge that college days were costly,
is not in itself evidence of wantonness. Small spenders are
usually high scholars; but this is by no means always the
case. In the most economical group I found seven who did
not reach a rank of seventy per cent last year; whereas out
of the seven largest spenders of the class three passed seventy-
five per cent. It would be rash to conclude that large sums
cannot be honorably employed.
But it may seem that the smallest of the sums named is
large for a poor man. It may be believed that even after re-
straint and wisdom are used, Harvard remains the college of
the rich. There is much in our circumstances to make it so.
An excellent education is unquestionably a costly thing, and
expect to recover at graduation by the sale of furniture and other goods. There
is a noticeable tendency to larger outlay as the years advance. Some students
attribute this to the greater cost of the studies of the later years, to the more
expensive books and the laboratory charges ; others, to societies and subscrip-
tions; others, to enlarged acquaintance with opportunities for spending.
COLLEGE EXPENSES AT HARWARD. 9
to live where many men wish to live calls for a good deal of
money. We have, it is true, this splendid hall, which lessens
our expense for food and encompasses us with ennobling influ-
ences; but it costs $150 a year to board here. Our tuition
bill each year is $150. The University owns 450 rooms; but
not a third of them rent for less than $150 a year, the average
rent being $146. These large charges for tuition and room-
rent are made necessary by the smallness of the general fund
which pays the running expenses of the college. Very few
of the professorships are endowed, and so the tuition-fee and
room-rent must mainly carry the expenses of teaching.
Still, there is another side to the story. Thus far I have
figured out the expenses, and have said nothing about the
means of meeting them. Perhaps to get the advantages of
Harvard a student may need to spend largely; but a certain
circumstance enables him to do so, - I mean the matchless
benevolence of those who have preceded us here. The great
sums intrusted to us for distribution in prizes, loan-funds, and
scholarships make it possible for our students to offset the
cost of their education to such a degree that the net output of
a poor boy here is probably less than in most New England
colleges. At any rate, I have asked a large number of poor
students why they came to expensive Harvard, and again and
again I have received the reply: “I could not afford to go
elsewhere.”
The magnitude of this beneficiary aid I doubt if people
generally understand, and I have accordingly taken pains to
ascertain what was the amount given away this year. I find
that to undergraduates alone it was $36,000; to members of
the graduate department, $11,000; and to the professional
schools, $6,000: making in a single year a total of assistance
to students of the University of more than $53,000. Next
year this enormous sum will be increased $13,000 by the mu-
nificent bequest of Mr. Price Greenleaf. Fully to estimate the
favorable position of the poor man at Harvard, we should take
into account also the great opportunities for earning money
10 COLLEGE EXPENSES AT HARWARD.
through private tuition, through innumerable avenues of trade,
and through writing for the public press. A large number of
my correspondents tell of money earned outside their scholar-
ships.”
These immense aids provided for our students maintain a
balance of conditions here, and enable even the poorest to ob-
tain a Harvard education. And what an education it is; how
broad and deep and individually stimulating, — the most truly
American education which the continent affords! But I have
no need to eulogize it. It has already entered into the very
structure of you who listen. Let me rather close with two
pieces of advice.
The first shall be to parents. Give your son a competent
allowance when you send him to Harvard, and oblige him to
stick to it. To learn calculation will contribute as much to his
equipment for life as any elective study he can pursue; and
calculation he will not learn unless, after a little experience,
you tell him precisely what sum he is to receive. If in a hap-
hazard way you pour $2,000 into his pocket, then in an equally
haphazard way $2,000 will come out. Whatever extravagance
exists at Harvard to-day is the fault of you foolish parents.
The college, as a college, cannot stop extravagance. It can-
not take away a thousand dollars from your son and tell him
—what would be perfectly true — that he will be better off
with the remaining thousand; that you must do yourselves.
And if you ask, “What is a competent allowance 7” out of
what my correspondents say I will frame you five answers.
If your son is something of an artist in economy, he may live
here on $600, or less; he will require to be an artist to accom-
plish it. If he will live closely, carefully, yet with full regard
to all that is required, he may do so, with nearly half his
class, on not more than $800. If you wish him to live at ease
* For the sake of lucidity, I keep the expense account and the income account
distinct. For example, a man reports that he has spent $700 a year, winning
each year a scholarship of $200, and earning by tutoring $100, and $50 by some
other means. The balance against him is only $350 a year; but I have included
him in the group of $700 spenders. § - -
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• * * * * * * *
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&OLLEGE EXPENSES AT HARWARD. 11
and to obtain the many refinements which money will pur-
chase, give him $1,000. Indeed, if I were a very rich man,
and had a boy whose character I could trust, so that I
could be sure that all he laid out would be laid out wisely,
I might add $200 more, for the purchase of books and
other appliances of delicate culture. But I should be
sure that every dollar I gave him over $1,200 would be a
dollar of danger.
Let my second piece of advice be to all of you graduates.
When you meet a poor boy, do not rashly urge him to come
to Harvard. Estimate carefully his powers. If he is a good
boy, — docile, worthy, commonplace, — advise him to go some-
where else. Here he will find himself borne down by large
expense and by the crowd who stand above him. But when-
ever you encounter a poor boy of eager, aggressive mind, a
youth of energy, one capable of feeling the enjoyment of strug-
gling with a multitude and of making his merit known, say to
him that Harvard College is expressly constituted for such as
he. Here he will find the largest provision for his needs and
the clearest field for his talents. Money is a power every-
where. It is a power here; but a power of far more restricted
scope than in the world at large. In this magnificent hall
rich and poor dine together daily. At the Union they debate
together. At the clubs which foster special interests, – the
Finance Club, the Philological Club, the Philosophical Club,
the French Club, the Signet, and the O. K., - considerations
of money have no place. If the poor man is a man of muscle,
the athletic organizations will welcome him; if a man skilled
in words, he will be made an editor of the college papers; and
if he has the powers that fit him for such a place, the whole
body of his classmates will elect him Orator, Ivy Orator, Odist,
or Poet, without the slightest regard to whether his purse is
full or empty. The poor man, it is true, will not be chosen
for ornamental offices, for positions which imply an acquaint-
ance with etiquette, and he may be cut off from intimacy with
the frequenters of the ball-room and the opera ; but as he
12. COLLEGE EXPENSES AT HARWARD.
will probably have little time or taste for these things, his loss
will not be large. In short, if he has anything in him, - has
he scholarship, brains, wit, companionability, stout moral
purpose, or quiet Christian character, — his qualities will
find as prompt a recognition at Harvard as anywhere on
earth.
APPENDIX OF CORRESPONDENCE.
NOTE.
F my Address is to be printed, some of the delightful
letters, of which it is but a bald abstract, should be
printed too. I cannot print them in full, partly through lack
of space, but chiefly because I have promised to publish
nothing which might identify the writers. I hope I have
kept this promise by careful editing. I am sure I violate.
no confidence in revealing the frankness of my charming
correspondents, their vigorous English, their gentlemanly
simplicity, and their freedom from nonsense and whine; for
these are qualities characteristic of them all, and betray no-
body. What I have chiefly tried to show in the brief selec-
tion here given, is the variety of opinion and practice that
prevails where tempers and habits differ. Listening to the
open-hearted talk of these young men, we seem to be looking
at an instantaneous photograph of our little college world, and
so “to catch the manners living as they rise.”
G. H. P.
I AM very glad to do what I can to correct the statements of
the newspapers about the cost of living at Harvard; they are far
from the truth. I can give my expenses within ten dollars, I am
sure. Freshman year almost exactly $400; Sophomore year, very
nearly $485; Junior year, about $600; Senior year, $750. Scholar-
ships have always paid my term-bills, and something more.
14 COLLEGE EXPENSES AT HARWARD.
My expenses as a Freshman were $435.32; as a Sophomore,
$415.66. For the last two years. I have not kept an accurate
account; but $435 will more than cover what I have spent since
my Sophomore year. These figures, however, do not include fur-
niture, for which I have spent $20 per year on the average;
neither do they include washing, which has been done at
home. - . . . ; -
I am very glad to comply with your request and to give you
a statement of my college expenses. They have been, – Freshman
year, $627; Sophomore, $572; Junior, $562; Senior, $720. I
think it proper to add that during my college course I have re-
ceived in scholarships $800, and have earned by tutoring and by
prizes $373, making the actual cost of my course but $1,309.
Many of the items in my expenses cover such outlays as would
be necessary whether I were in college or not, such as board,
clothing, and sundries. My actual total expenses may be reduced
to a figure below my estimate; but the reduction is an unknown
quantity, and would be out of place in this statement.
My expenses at Harvard have been as follows, –October, 1883,
to July, 1884, $681; earned by tutoring, $128. October, 1884, to
July, 1885, $579: earned by tutoring, $256. October, 1885, to
July, 1886, $525; earned by tutoring, $750. October, 1886,
to May 1, 1887, $397: earned by tutoring, $210. Total for four
years to May 1, 1887, $2,183; by tutoring, $1,344. I estimate
my expenses for the rest of the year at $325, and my income
at about $100. - -
I fear my estimate of college expenses will not be very valuable,
as I have always boarded and slept at home. For three years of
my college course I have had a scholarship of $300, and have
found this amply sufficient to pay my tuition, books, and outside
expenses. -
My total expenses for the four years have been $1,624. I have
boarded at home two years, part of a third, and nearly the whole
of a fourth. My mother thinks my estimate of incidentals for the
COLLEGE EXPENSES AT HARWARD. 15
first two years a little too high. I believe a student boarding at home
can easily go through college for $2,000, and live in very good
style. I have not sold my books, but have most of them still.
My expenses for the past four years have been as follows:
Freshman, $550; Sophomore, $650; Junior, $625; Senior, $750.
This represents the actual amounts which have come into my
hands. I am able to give itemized accounts of them. My
expenses cannot have been more than this, and probably have
been on an average $15 less. I received from the college one year
a scholarship of $150, and $50 from the Loan Fund; another year,
$350 scholarship, and $75 Loan Fund; another still, $300 scholar-
ship, and $50 Loan Fund. From tutoring, $250. The rest I
obtained from extraneous sources.
. My annual expenses in Cambridge will be less than $550, not in-
cluding a small spread which I shall give on Class Day. While I
have not spent money recklessly, I have not pinched myself at all,
and I have been fortunate in getting low-priced rooms. It is in
this respect alone that Harvard is necessarily more expensive than
many other American colleges.
I can give only a general estimate. Three body items I state
nearly correctly, -tuition, $150; board at Memorial, $150; room-
rent, $125. The latter has been unavoidably large, because my
luck in the lottery of room-drawing has been constantly bad, and
rooms outside are expensive. Coal and wood, $25 ; good light,
$5; washing, #25; books and stationery, $15 (had a good library
to start with); clothing, about $30 (have bought only one full suit
since I came to college, but brought a good deal with me); pleas-
ure, $25 (society dues, sports, theatres, excursions, car-fares, and
all incidentals).
I think this rough estimate will convey a nearly correct idea.
The only item on which I have doubt is the last one. While I have
not spent a large sum, still, incidentals creep up, without being
16 COLLEGE EXPENSES AT HARWARD.
noticed, in a most provoking manner. To state a maximum, as
you suggest, probably $600 in round numbers would be fair. I
ought to say that through my newspaper connections I have not
only helped myself through college, but much of my pleasure, —
games, sports, boat-races, as well as occasional theatres, – which
would cost another man quite an important sum, have cost me
nothing. I have not mentioned my expense for furniture, because
I have had no reason to buy any since the first outlay. In regard
to my rooms, I have a pride in my economy of furnishing them.
Without boasting, I think them as picturesque and as elegant as
any in college, outside those upon which small fortunes have been
spent in Beck. By making use of the contents of a country-house
garret belonging to a great-aunt, and by judicious buying, the
furnishing of the two rooms has cost me, all told, less than $40.
First year, $750; second year, $690; third year, $590; fourth
year, $625. Have been forced to economize since the middle of
my second year, but have been more than comfortable on the
above. - º
I have not spent over $600 in any year, and I have been able to
live very well indeed. I have boarded at Memorial, had a good
room, had it furnished very comfortably, and have clothed myself
well, although, of course, not extravagantly. I have not stinted
myself on books, although I have not been able to buy all I wanted ;
and it is here that I find myself inclined to spend more than I
ought to. After these legitimate expenses, I have had a little left
for what might perhaps be called luxuries.
I should admit that the temptations to spend money are greater
here than at some of our country colleges. I can see how I might
spend a good deal more, without doing it foolishly ; and I can also
see how one of a more robust constitution than myself would get
along on much less money, perhaps on $200 or $250 less, if he
were willing to scrimp on books, room, board, and clothes. In my
opinion, from what I have seen and know of other colleges, a man
can get along as cheaply here as in any of them; and the possibili-
ties of getting aid by means of scholarships are very much greater
here. • - r
COLLEGE EXPENSES AT HARWARD. 17
To meet this $2,860, of which I have thus given you an account
by months, I have earned about $500 in college during my Eresh-
man and Sophomore years, and something over $1,500 during my
vacations, – chiefly the last two. The remaining $860 I received
from my folks and from other sources; $200 I borrowed when
I entered, – to be paid next September. As I intend to work
next summer, I have no doubt I can easily meet this. I have
also earned all my summer expenses, – $450.
I have not received a dollar as a tutor or as a holder of a scholar-
ship. It is evident, then, that there are other and more remunera-
tive ways of earning money than these during a man's college
COUITSC.
I have spent about $600 per year. I could easily have done
with $500 had I so desired.
My expenses have been about $600 per year. They will proba-
bly be $800 this year. I have been very economical, and from my
own experience think it would be difficult for a student to get along
with very much less.
For the college portion of each of my four years my expenses
have averaged $750. Allow me to say that this amount is much
larger than is “needed.” in my opinion, to go through Harvard.
I have had but $700 per college year as an allowance, with per-
haps $50 as extras. It seems a small sum, but I have not felt
pinched for money in getting any of the necessities of a comfort-
able life here. $750 is the outside limit of my expenditure.
As it was a matter of great doubt whether I could afford to go
to college or not, I am in a position peculiarly fitted to recognize
the value of the work you are doing. It is generally supposed that
it costs far more to live here than it actually does. Indeed, I
18 COLLEGE EXPENSES AT HARWARD,
think extravagance is the exception. If I can be of assistance
in dispelling this erroneous notion that only the very rich can go
to college, do not hesitate to call on me further.
Below are as accurate statements of my expenses as I can give
[itemized accounts, averaging $702 a year]. In conclusion, I
would say that I have always had all I wanted,—have lived and
dressed well. I am confident that the amount spent each year
could be brought down to $600 easily.
Expenses for four years' course at Harvard College [given by
single years and by average. Last as follows] : — -
Tuition . . . . . . . . . . . . $150.00
Laboratories . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.69
Books and stationery . . . . . . . . . . 25.70
Clothing . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87.20
Room e e º e º 'º & . 218.75
Furniture (not including pieces from home) .. 30.56
Board at Memorial . . . . . . . . . . 146.63
Fuel and light . . . . . . . . . . . 33.88
Societies and subscriptions . . . . . . . 41.69
Janitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81.88
Sundries . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122.88
Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $896.86
My theatre-tickets have cost, — Freshman, $16.00, Sophomore,
$26.00; Junior, $16.75; Senior, $1.50. These I cannot forbear to
mention separately, because I think they show certain things about
college recreations quite general among the students at large. Dur-
ing Freshman year the theatre is usually very attractive, and its
attraction is badly lessened in the year that follows. As a matter
of fact, my theatre-expenses as a Sophomore were much greater
than as a Freshman; but this I think was almost wholly due to the
peculiar fascination exerted by Irving and Terry's performances of
Shakespeare's plays,
$700 will be my net outlay. This includes all expenditures,
clothing and railroad fare to New York several times a year. I
have belonged to no societies, and had no expensive habits. Never
COLLEGE EXPENSES AT HARVARD. 19
smoke, etc. I therefore think this an under-estimate of the average
rational expenditure, which I should place at $1,000 a year.
Total expenditure for entire year averages about $1,200, of which
$100 are travelling expenses, and another $100 is spent during the
long vacation in summer. This leaves $1,000 for the college year,
which I find very sufficient. Since entering Harvard I have taken
many laboratory courses, the fees of which have of course some-
what increased my term-bills. Exclusive of required text-books,
I have added about $200 worth of books to my library during the
last three years. My social expenses, as nearly as I can estimate
them, are about $100 annually, or at least do not exceed $125.
I don’t think I could have gone through college and have got
along with a sum materially smaller than that which I have had
[$1,000 a year]. In view of the small sum on which some men go
through college, it may seem ridiculous for me to say this; but I do
not consider that I have been extravagant, though in some cases I
think I might have spent more judiciously. -
During my four years in college I have had an allowance of
$1,000 a year. Up to this year I have been just able to keep
within it. My expenses in this, my last year, are heavier, but to
what amount I cannot yet calculate. On this allowance I have felt
pinched. The same sum, with my clothes paid for, I should have
deemed very liberal.
I came to college with the idea that I could live on a thousand a
year; but I find that my total expenses have averaged fully $1,580
each year, and some years more. $6,000 will not overestimate the
cost of my college course.
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20 COLLEGE EXPENSES AT HARWARD.
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$1,100 a year. I came here with no allowance, but could use
what I thought proper. My father expected me to use about $700
a year. I have had practically no amusements while in college.
As unnecessary expenses I might put down four trips to Illinois,
and three visits to New York; altogether, this will make $275. I
might have spent less on clothes than about $160 a year, and than
$125 for my room ; but not if I wanted to do as others do. I have
built fires and carried water myself. The last two years I have
ordered a good many “extras” at Memorial, - about $40 a year.
I have not gone out at all. This last year I have spent $30 on a
society I never attend, and an equal amount on athletics in which
I take no interest. Other sports have cost me $150.
I should put the necessary college expenses as follows: If one
wants to study only, $600; if one wants the education which the
society of others gives, $1,500, - provided you have no local
connections.
Freshman year, $980; Sophomore, $1,280; Junior, $1,300;
Senior, $1,500.
During my Freshman year my expenses were very much less
than they have been during the last three years. This was partly
due to the fact that I boarded at Memorial Hall, partly because
I joined no societies, and partly because I went into athletics.
This last cause is more important than it would at first appear.
When a man is in training, he cannot go to parties, nor to the
theatre ; he cannot travel round to see the various foot-ball and
base-ball games. Many things for which he usually spends money
are denied him. The fact that so much of his time is taken up,
gives him less time to spend money. Perhaps you may think that
the things he gives up do not strictly come under the head of a
college education; but nevertheless they form an important part of
the expenses of the majority of men here.
I hope I have not answered your question too much at length,
but I happen to know my different expenses quite accurately.
There is probably no place where it is so easy to make your
expenses meet your means as it is in Cambridge. A man can
easily make his expenses as large or as small as he pleases.
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COLLEGE EXPENSES AT HARWARD. 21
I have spent $1,200 in my Freshman year; $1,500 in my
Sophomore; $1,700 in my Junior; and $2,700 in my Senior. I do
not think it necessary to spend so much money as this in order to
go through Harvard College. Subscriptions and the expenses in-
curred by joining college societies must be regulated according to
one’s own ideas, as well as money spent for outside enjoyment. If
a man leads the life of a hermit, he can go through college on less
than $700; but I should say that from $1,200 to $1,500 was a very
fair allowance for a man to enjoy himself quite thoroughly on.
I have spent $1,200 a year; and I hardly need add that much
of it has gone unnecessarily, and that were I to pass through these
years again, I could easily and satisfactorily get on with much
less. -
Average per year, $1,480. As you see, my expenses have been
relatively large. The increase in the Sophomore year is chiefly
due to the fact that I then kept a saddle-horse in Cambridge. Be-
sides ordinary expenses, I have bought a good many books, and
have had several large pieces of furniture made, at a considerable
cost. I have also squandered a good deal of money in amateur
photography. Lastly, I have taken several long railway trips
during the Christmas and Easter vacations.
My college years have cost me about $6,500,—more than I need
have spent for mere college education, of course, and yet a liberal
allowance for a comfortable and pleasant four years. I believe in
a good room above all things, even if expensive. And yet I have
by no means led a fast life here, only had a comfortable, easy, and
good time. $6,000 is enough for any fellow.
Expenses of college course: Freshman year, $2,025; Sopho-
more, $2,213; Junior, $2,000; Senior, $1,950. This represents
the expense of a man who has lived liberally, and spent all the
money he cared to.
22 COLLEGE EXPENSES AT HARWARD.
I send the enclosed estimates, which are necessarily more or less
incomplete, but which give a very good idea of the increase in ex-
penditure during the four years, through the generosity of an almost
too liberal father. . -

Freshman. Sophomore. Junior. Senior.
Room . . . . . . $200 $250 $250. $250
Table . . . . . . 280 320 320 340
Janitor . . . . . . . 50 50 50 50
Washing . . . . . 50 50 50 50
Tuition. . . . . . 150 150 150 150
Furniture . . . . . 60 150 25 5
Subscriptions . . . 100 75 150 40
Text-books . . . . 30 20 40 75
Clothing . . . . . 45 150 200 200
Fuel . . . . . . . 30 45 45 45
Societies . . . . . 50 250 267 500
Tutoring . . . . . 40 50 60 50
Sundries . . . . . 25(? 60(?) 50(?) 100(?)
Livery . . . . . . 6 10 20 40
Photographs . . . . 10 40 20 75
Totals . . . . . . $1126 $1670 $1697 $1970
I am very willing, even glad, to aid you in a small way by telling
you how much I have spent here at college, – much, I fear, foolishly
and unnecessarily. I feel sure that had I been less extravagant,
I could easily have saved from $1,500 to $2,000 on my course;
for during the last two years I have spent far less money, and en-
joyed myself more, than during the first two. Although I have
not the exact figures at hand, I know I have not spent less than
$1,500 a year on the average. However, I think I could do it all
over again upon an allowance of $1,000 per year, and have as good
a time and learn more than at present. My allowance now is about
$1,500 a year; but I am afraid I am apt to exceed that amount.
DEAR SIR, - I regret to say my college course will have cost
me, in round figures, $9,000.
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