in touch with the university by means of correspondence studies. There are several centers or stations from which the work can expand into the surrounding localities established throughout the state for this work. General divisions with regular faculty are formed at the university, notably in engineering, mathematics, drawing, business administration, and to some degree in languages. This is nothing new; private enterprise has been doing this for some time but it is obvious that the state can do more than any private enterprise. Private correspondence schools must make a profit while the state may be satisfied with a profit of improved conditions. The state can well afford to invest vast sums of money, while private enterprise must always take out its dividends. When the state enters into this field the private enterprise cannot long remain a competitor.
Some idea of how extensive and diverse the work of the University Extension division is can be obtained from the following statistics:—
There are now about 5000 active students taking the correspondence work; ninety-eight professors and instructors are supervising this work. Besides this there are fifty-seven local classes in organized districts which the professors visit.
In the department of debating and public discussion about 80,000 articles are lent out annually throughout the state.
