29

E.—l

The total number of students described as taking definite courses at the affiliated colleges was 4,379, distributed as follows : Arts, 2,056 ; science, 364 ; medicine, 223 ; dentistry, 116 ; law, 565 ; commerce, 522 ; music, 26 ; engineering, 236; agriculture, 26; home science, 120; architecture, 45 ; journalism, 42; mining, 19 ; and forestry, 19. The number of exempted students was 566 in 1926 and 516 in 1927, the numbers in actual attendance at lectures being 4,087 and 4,362 respectively. The following shows the growth in the numbers of students over a period of years : 1878, 168; 1895, 742; 1900, 805; 1905, 1,158; 1915, 2,039; 1920, 3,822; 1924,4,236; 1925,4,442; 1927,4,878. Of the 4,878 students on the books in 1927, 3,411 students or 70 per cent, of the total number of students were men. Of the students attending lectures last year the following were receiving free University education : 39 per cent, in the case of men, and 66 per cent, in the case of women, or 48 per cent, of all students. Nearly all these had their tuition fees paid by the State. Besides University Scholarships, the gaining of which entitles the holder to free University education additional assistance, the Government awards University Bursaries to all students who secure a credit pass in the University Entrance Scholarship Examination or gain a higher leaving certificate. Most of the bursars secure the latter qualification. A bursary enables a student to secure free University education to the value of £20 per annum in fees, the bursary being tenable for three years, with a possible extension to a fourth year. The following table shows the number of bursaries held in each year since the institution of this system : — Year. Number. Year. Number. 1912 .. .. .. ..38 1921 .. .. ..615 1914 .. .. .. .. 110 1922 .. .. .. 545 1915 .. .. .. ..230 1923 .. .. ..649 1916 248 1924 751 1917 .. .. .. ..246 1925 .. .. ..804 1918 .. .. .. ..293 1926 .. .. ..899 1919 .. .. .. .. 444 1927 .. .. .. 1,013 1920 .. .. .. ..539 It is interesting to note that in New Zealand in 1925 the number of students for every 1,000 persons in the population was 3-21 ; while in New South Wales thei'e were 115 students per 1,000 ; in Victoria, 1-41 per 1,000 ; in Queensland, 0-54 ; in South Australia, 2-71 ; in Western Australia, 1-01 ; and in Tasmania, 0-81. Returns showing the occupations of students have been furnished with respect to last year by the four constituent University Colleges. Expressed as percentages the figures are as under : — Men. Women. Full-time students .. .. .. .. .. 31 40 Teachers and training-college students .. .. .. 24 46 Government and local-body employees .. .. .. 12 Employees of private firms .. .. .. .. 32 5 Not known .. .. .. .. • ■ ■ • • • 1 7 100 100 The number of full-time students as a percentage of the total number of students attending lectures was 59 in the case of Otago, 18 in the case of Auckland, 26 in the case of Victoria, and 34 in the case of Canterbury. The number of candidates for examinations conducted by the University of New Zealand shows a decrease when compared with the previous year's figures. For the Matriculation Examination there were 5,287 candidates, and of these 2,128 passed, and 435 who already held partial passes completed the examination. There were 6,371 entries for the various degree examinations, compared with 6,593 in 1926.