SUMMER EARNINGS OF COLLEGE STUDENTS.

Figures, which are at once interesting and encouraging, have just been given to the public by Columbia University to show that large numbers of students are earning during the summer at least part of the money necessary to secure their education. The record for two hundred students shows that they earned $37,602 during the summer--an average of $20 per week. While no such figures have been compiled for Harvard students; it is quite safe to venture the opinion that a majority of the students here earn during the summer months something toward the defrayment of their expenses. To carry out to a logical completion the figures that were compiled recently to set forth the earnings of Harvard students during the academic year, the record of summer work should also be presented. The figures already given have indicated the large number of students that are earning their own way through college; the data as to summer earnings would give more conclusive evidence. Nothing serves better to dispel misconceptions as to the constituency of an educational institution, and if the Employment Office might devise some scheme for collecting the information suggested, it would render the University a valuable service. Such a record helps to show what sort of men are attending the University, and what are the opportunities offered for self-advancement. Certainly any such encouraging report as has just come from Columbia should stimulate any ambitious youth who hesitates at a financial risk in going through college. Furthermore, the fact that such a large number of students are taking advantage of the opportunities offered shows how well the educational institutions are meeting the needs of the community.