The Graduate School.

With the report of the President for 1890-91, comes the report of the Dean of the Graduate School. The number of students registered in this department of the University last year was 132, of whom 117 were resident students. In addition to these, there were 36 graduates registered in the undergraduate classes. The number of students admitted to the degrees of A. B., A. M., Ph. D., and S. D., was 89.

Thirty-three scholarships were held by resident members of the Graduate School last year; the number has now been reduced, however, to 26 in order to increase the income. Considering the increased number of applications it was voted to establish 20 University Scholarships of $150 each. The fellowships in the Graduate School yield an aggregate of $11,200 annually; the scholarships amount yearly to $10,450. In 1890 Mrs. Mary E. Hemenway presented the Hemenway Fellowship to the trustees of the Peabody Museum, to be awarded to a member of the Graduate School studying in that department. The Harvard Club of San Francisco has established a scholarship which is awarded on the recommendation of the Faculty of the University of California to a graduate of that university pursuing his studies here.

One hundred and ninety-three candidates applied for fellowships and scholarships, showing an increase over the previous year of more than two-thirds.

Regarding these applicants the following figures may be of interest:

Number receiving fellowships, 19

Number receiving scholarships, 46

Number receiving instructorships or assistantships, 13

Number receiving Price Greenleaf Aid, 11

Number in the Graduate School - without receiving appointments, 18

Number now unconnected with the University, 77

Number that withdrew their applications on account of having received instructorships or assistantships here or elsewhere, 9

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Total, 193

In the award of fellowships and scholarships, the preference is given to applicants who have already been in the college, Scientific or Graduate School, for at least one year. However, a number of the minor appointments were bestowed upon persons not connected with the University but who presented testimonials to their unusual merit. The Graduate School, therefore, offers to capable and ambitious students the means of continuing their studies, practically, as long as their industry makes them deserving, and it places the appointment to a fellowship or scholarship clearly in the light of a privilege justly earned rather than in that of a gratuity having its source simply in benevolence.

It is a somewhat surprising fact that students in the Graduate School, who are not graduates of the University, are not permitted to occupy the college rooms. This state of things hardly seems just and although the need of remedying it is generally felt, the Faculty and the Corporation have not as yet been able to agree regarding the proper change to be made.

To show the growth of the Graduate School, it may be interesting to note that in 1872-3, fifteen men applied for new degrees; in 1890-1, as has been mentioned, there were 132. Until the year 1872, the degree of Master of Arts was awarded upon the payment of a small fee, no study beyond that required for A. B., being necessary. The requirement of one year of residence and study in approved courses was, at that time, 1872, felt to be as severe as the public sentiment would bear.

Professor Pierce closes his report with the recommendation that the requirement for the degree of Master of Arts be moderately raised - perhaps to two years of residence and study - in order to give the degree a higher and more valuable significance.