Not All Free

Though there are excellent (and otherwise) State universities, free usually to citizens of the State which supports them. I suppose the majority of American universities are still endowed, privately run, fee-charging institutions. The cost of supporting a student at one of them is not light, and has become heavier in recent years, so that college presidents are perhaps beginning to be chosen for their ability as fund-raisers as well as their academic qualifications. Many parents make great sacrifices to send their children to college. The utility value of a university degree, in terms both of social success and economic security, is great. (The New York Times scarcely ever runs the engagement of a girl who is not an alumna of some well-known college, or a student at one.) But there are always those who would find it impossible to pay fees and living expenses for their children, on whom the responsibility of finding the whole or part of the cost necessarily falls. A good deal of scholarship help is available at endowed universities, such as the one I went too.