THE WOMEN’S COLLEGES
The chief gain that this half-century has brought to women’s education
is their admission to the universities. It is the key-stone of the arch,
without which the rest of the fabric could have neither stability nor
permanence. The schools look to them for their teachers and their
standard, and gain thereby an element of fixity hitherto lacking. If
boys’ education may be blamed for excessive conservatism, that of girls
has suffered from extreme mobility. Since girls’ schools led nowhere,
and acknowledged no outside guidance, their aim was perpetually
changing, according to the ever-varying dictates of sentiment or
expediency. Independent and unorganised, they lacked all connection with
past and future; and it is this that the universities are now giving
them.
Apart from its intrinsic importance, this reform is remarkable for the
speed and completeness with which it has been accomplished. Thirty years
ago it had hardly been seriously contemplated; now eight of the ten
universities of Great Britain teach their students without distinction
of sex, while two others admit them to lectures, examinations, and many
other privileges. All this has not been brought about without hard work
and persevering effort; and it would be vain to seek the origin of all
the separate forces that, acting and re-acting on one another, have
produced this result. Many were the workers, and the honours of the
pioneers must be shared, but among those who led the way a chief place
belongs to Miss Emily Davies. From the first she realised that the
reform in girls’ education must begin at the top. To quote her own
words: ‘The incompleteness of the education of schoolmistresses and
governesses is a drawback which no amount of intelligence and goodwill
can enable them entirely to overcome. It is obvious that for those who
have to impart knowledge the primary requisite is to possess it; and it
is one of the great difficulties of female teachers that they are called
upon to instruct others while being inadequately instructed themselves.
The more earnest and conscientious devote their leisure hours to
continued study, and no doubt much may be done in this way; but it is at
the cost of overwork, often involving the sacrifice of health, to say
nothing of the disadvantages of working alone, without a teacher, often
without good books, and without the wholesome stimulus of
companionship.’[14]
But, important as was the improvement in the education of the teachers,
Miss Davies had a wider aim in view for the college she meant to found.
It was to bring a really liberal education within reach of all women,
apart from any special professional aim. Girls, as well as boys, should
have opportunities given them to carry on their studies in congenial and
stimulating surroundings, unhampered by the cares of earning and
unhindered by conflicting duties. To them, too, the college life was to
bring that joyous spring-time of youth, friendship, and unfettered
delight of study and leisure which had hitherto been withheld from them.
Such was the generous purpose in the minds of a few men and women who
were trying to fire others with their own enthusiasm.
Even at the time of the Schools’ Inquiry Commission this question had
been mooted, and a memorial had been sent up pointing out the want of a
system of ‘instruction and discipline adapted to advanced students,
combined with examinations testing and attesting the value of the
education received.’ The report of the Commission and the discussion it
aroused helped to give publicity to the proposal, and at last it was
resolved to test the feasibility of the scheme by actual experiment. In
1867 a committee had been formed to consider the possibility of founding
a college ‘designed to hold in relation to girls’ schools and home
teaching a position analogous to that occupied by the universities
towards the public schools for boys.’ It was resolved to try an
experiment on a small scale, and proceed further as funds became
available. At Hitchin, near Cambridge, a small house was hired for the
six students who presented themselves, and in October 1869 they began
the work prescribed to candidates for degrees by the University of
Cambridge. Insignificant as these beginnings may seem, they were of
momentous importance in the history of women’s education. The founders
of this, the first women’s college in England, had to choose once for
all between a women’s university, with its exclusive studies and
degrees, and admission to the great universities of the country. The
question of a women’s university debated and vetoed in 1897 had really
been finally settled in 1870, when the first lady students requested and
received permission to be examined in the papers set for the Previous
Examination.
The prospectus of the new college issued in the autumn of 1869 contained
this clause: ‘The Council shall use such efforts as from time to time
they may think most expedient and effectual to obtain for the students
of the College admission to the examinations for the degrees of the
University of Cambridge, and generally to place the College in
connection with the University.’ This ambitious programme thus early
laid down for the infant College must have provoked many smiles; and
looking back now after the lapse of nearly thirty years, we hardly know
whether to wonder most at the confidence placed by the founders in the
hitherto untried abilities of girls or at the success which so
abundantly justified their anticipations.
It was thus made clear from the outset that the new college was to be no
self-centred institution, but was to derive its teaching, inspiration,
and standard from Cambridge, provided always that the University were
willing to accept the new responsibilities thus proposed. For this end
it seemed desirable to make an informal experiment, and through the
kindness of the individual examiners five of the students were submitted
to the test of the Previous Examination. All were successful; four
attained the standard required for a First Class, and one that of a
Second. Two years later three students entered for Tripos Examinations
in the same informal manner, two passing in classics and one in
mathematics. Thus three years after the opening of the College three of
its students had fulfilled all the conditions required by the University
of Cambridge for a degree in Honours. That was a sufficient answer to
the doubters; the founders had justified their action. Henceforth the
future of the College was fixed.
Meanwhile vigorous efforts were being made to raise money for the
permanent building to be erected in or near Cambridge. This was no easy
task. Generous donations for the needs of women were at that time
unknown. The _Quarterly Review_ recommended ‘simplicity of living and
the strictest economy’ as alone suitable for women who might have to
earn their own living, and desired to combine with this ‘training in
housekeeping, regular needlework ... such cultivation as will make a
really good wife, sister, and daughter to educated men.’ Against such
selfish and confused notions it was difficult to contend. As Miss
Shirreff wrote at the time: ‘Never yet have a company of women been able
to scrape together funds for an object specially their own, be it club,
or reading-room, or hospital, or, as now, a college.’ It is pleasant to
realise that this is no longer true, and that the writer of these
despairing words lived to see the change she had helped to bring about.
The money came in, though slowly. Madame Bodichon generously gave the
first thousand pounds, and among the earliest subscribers was George
Eliot. Lady Stanley was another who gave liberal aid. The subscription
list gradually grew longer; a piece of land was secured at Girton, near
Cambridge, and building began. In 1873 it was ready for occupation, and
henceforth became the home of the Ladies’ College, now incorporated as
Girton College, with Miss Davies installed as Mistress. As the numbers
increased, fresh additions were made to the building, but the aim and
work of the College remained unchanged. Students were prepared for the
Ordinary and Honours Degree Examinations by means of lectures given at
Girton, and, as these were gradually opened to women, by attendance at
some of the professorial and intercollegiate lectures in Cambridge. They
were informally examined with the same papers as were set to the men,
and in every detail of preliminary test, length of residence, etc. they
conformed to the rules laid down by the University for its members. In
lieu of the degree, which could not be conferred upon them, they
received from the College a ‘degree certificate,’ and year by year fresh
proofs were given of the general efficiency of the College and its
students. In this way informal connection with the University was
combined with formal adherence to its regulations. Thus matters
continued till 1881.
Side by side with the beginnings of Girton, another movement had been at
work. This was largely due to the North of England Council, which by
promoting examinations for women over eighteen, had been establishing a
fresh link between the University of Cambridge and the education of
girls. A Cambridge committee established courses of lectures in all the
subjects of examination. These naturally attracted many students from a
distance, and the same persons who had organised the lectures, soon had
to face the problem of housing the audience. Mr. Henry Sidgwick, to
whose generous and unfailing assistance women owe so much, invited Miss
Clough to come and take charge of a house of residence for women
students. This house—No. 64 Regent Street—became the germ of Newnham. As
the numbers increased, removal to larger premises became necessary, and
Merton Hall was taken. When this too had to be abandoned it was resolved
to build. Funds were raised by the Newnham Hall Company, and eventually
this was amalgamated with the association which had charge of the
lectures, and the two were incorporated as Newnham College. This
development from small beginnings, under the Principal’s able management
with the constant help and sympathy of Mr. and Mrs. Sidgwick, has now
been fully made known through Miss A. B. Clough’s interesting biography
of her aunt. Newnham has seen some changes of policy and programme since
its first beginnings in 1870, but its true aim, to advance the education
of women at Cambridge, has always remained the same.
Since Newnham originated in a house of residence for girls preparing for
the Higher Local Examination, this was naturally the goal set before the
first students; but very early in its history some few who were more
ambitious or better prepared, found this aim insufficient, and began,
like the Girton students, to study for the degree examinations. The
Higher Local, at first the goal, gradually receded in importance, and
became a preliminary instead of a final, but it was not made compulsory
to follow the Cambridge curriculum exactly, and in those early days
great latitude in choice of subjects, examinations, length of residence,
etc. was allowed to Newnham students.
Thus matters continued till 1880, when special attention was called to
Girton by the distinguished success of one of its students, who was
declared by the examiners in the mathematical Tripos to be equal to the
eighth wrangler. There was now a ten years’ record of good work to show,
and the time seemed opportune for bringing about a more formal
connection with the University. A memorial was drawn up and presented,
which called attention to the ‘repeated instances of success on the part
of students of Girton and Newnham Colleges, in satisfying the examiners
in various degree examinations at Cambridge,’ and praying the Senate to
‘grant to properly qualified women the right of admission to the
examinations for University degrees, and to the degrees conferred
according to the result of such examinations.’ This was signed by 8500
persons; other petitions to the same effect were received, and as a
result a syndicate was appointed to consider the matter. Their report
advocated the formal admission of women to the Honours examinations of
the University, and the publication of a separate class-list, indicating
the position of each in the general list. They did not, however,
recommend conferring degrees on women, nor did they advise admitting
them to the Ordinary Degree examinations. The recommendations were
embodied in three Graces, passed by the Senate on February 24, 1881, a
red-letter day in the annals of College women. These are the most
important:—
‘1. That female students who have fulfilled the conditions respecting
length of residence and standing which members of the University are
required to fulfil, be admitted to the Previous Examination and the
Tripos Examinations.
‘2. That such residence shall be kept—(_a_) at Girton College; or (_b_)
at Newnham College; or (_c_) within the precincts of the University,
under the regulations of one or other of these Colleges; or (_d_) in any
similar institution within the precincts of the University which may be
recognised hereafter by grace of the Senate.
‘3. That certificates of residence shall be given by the authorities of
Girton College or Newnham College or other similar institution hereafter
recognised by the University, in the same form as that which is
customary in the case of members of the University.
‘4. That except as is provided in regulation 5, female students shall,
before admission to a Tripos Examination, have passed the Previous
Examination (including the Additional subjects), or one of the
examinations which excuse members of the University from the Previous
Examination.
‘5. That female students who have obtained an Honour certificate in the
Higher Local Examination, may be admitted to a Tripos Examination,
though such certificate does not cover the special portions of the
Higher Local Examination, which are accepted by the University in lieu
of parts or the whole of the Previous Examination; provided that such
students have passed in Group B, (Language): and Group C, (Mathematics).
‘6. That no female student shall be admitted to any part of any of the
examinations of the University who is not recommended for admission by
the authorities of the College, or other institution, under whose
regulations she has resided.
‘7. That after each examination a class-list of the female students who
have satisfied the examiners shall be published by the examiners at the
same time with the class-list of members of the University, the standard
for each class, and the method of arrangement in each class being the
same in the two class lists.
‘8. That in each class of female students in which the names are
arranged in order of merit, the place which each of such students would
have occupied in the corresponding class of members of the University
shall be indicated.
‘9. That the examiners for the Tripos shall be at liberty to state, if
the case be so, that a female student who has failed to satisfy them,
has in their opinion reached a standard equivalent to that required from
members of the University for the ordinary B.A. degree.
‘10. That to each female student who has satisfied the examiners in a
Tripos Examination, a certificate shall be given by the University
stating the conditions under which she was admitted to the examinations
of the University, the examinations in which she has satisfied the
examiners, and the class and place in the class to which she has
attained in each of such examinations.’
This was followed in 1882 by permission to pass the examinations for
degrees in Music.
The Colleges and their students thus received formal acknowledgment from
the University, and the status then conferred remains unchanged to this
day. Two attempts have since been made to induce the University to carry
its concessions to their logical issue, and confer degrees on women.
That of 1887 came to an untimely end, as it was not even considered by a
syndicate; the events of 1897 belong to recent history, and are too
fresh to allow a proper estimate of their significance. The facts are
these. In 1896 four memorials were presented to the Council, asking for
the nomination of a syndicate ‘to consider on what conditions and with
what restrictions, if any, women should be admitted to degrees in the
University.’ The syndicate was appointed, and reported in favour of
conferring ‘the title of the degree of Bachelor of Arts’ by diploma upon
women, ‘who, in accordance with the now existing ordinances, shall
hereafter satisfy the examiners in a final Tripos Examination, and shall
have kept by residence nine terms at least; provided that the title so
conferred shall not involve membership of the University.’ This seemed a
very moderate proposal, since it only involved a formal acknowledgment
of privileges already conferred, but somehow the University took fright.
Perhaps it now for the first time realised what had already been done,
and determined to allow no more concessions; perhaps an element of
jealousy was beginning to play a part among the younger members who had
appeared in the same class lists as the women, and not always in the
highest places; certain it is that while the best weight and learning in
Cambridge were in favour of the proposals, numbers were ranged on the
other side; and the voting resulted in a majority of more than a
thousand against the proposal. In estimating this result it is well to
remember that the women’s colleges had met with far more rapid success
than even their founders had anticipated. They had produced a Senior
Wrangler and a Senior Classic, and a formidable list of first classes in
these and other Triposes. It was no longer possible to put aside their
achievements with the old contemptuous formula, ‘very good considering.’
The movement had succeeded beyond all hope or fear, and while its true
friends remained staunch, many of the indifferent now ranged themselves
among the open enemies. Events had moved too fast for the rearguard of
public opinion to keep up with them. At any rate the refusal was
decisive, and matters settled down once more to the _status quo_ of
1881.
Anomalous as is their position, the students of Girton and Newnham have
many and great advantages. For a comparatively low fee they receive all
the advantages of a University education; they enjoy the manifold
privileges that belong to residence in Cambridge, they may attend nearly
all professorial and very many college lectures, their own colleges also
provide excellent lecturing and coaching; and they may enter for any of
the Tripos Examinations, and for those that lead to the degrees of Doc.
and Bac. Mus. They have the advantage of life in beautiful buildings,
with plentiful opportunities for recreation, exercise, and social
intercourse, while the very fact of belonging to Girton or Newnham
confers a certain prestige which is an advantage professionally and
socially. However much we may desire the degree, and regret its
indefinite postponement, it may yet safely be said that nowhere else can
women obtain such advantages as at Cambridge. No anxiety need be felt
about the future of the colleges. The success of their students, the
influence their ‘graduates’ have had on the teaching profession, and the
good work done by them in other fields, have amply justified the new
departure. If success has come too quickly, public opinion may lag
behind a few years longer. Meantime the work goes on.
At this period of their history it is no longer necessary to describe
the colleges. Everybody who knows Cambridge is familiar with them. Both
have increased greatly since their first beginnings. Girton has added
fresh wings and a tower; changed its entrance and built a library which
is full to overflowing. The trees have grown up around it and offer
pleasant shade to summer tea-parties and afternoon loungers, the
‘woodland walk’ that encircles the grounds is gay at almost all seasons
with pretty blossoms and flowering shrubs. Newnham has enlarged its
first (Old) hall and built two new ones, called by names that will ever
be held in honour, Clough and Sidgwick Halls. One library has been
outgrown, and another—a generous gift—has been lately added; a road has
been diverted allowing an addition to the grounds, and a fresh approach
made under a tower gateway with beautiful iron gates presented by old
students in memory of their first Principal. Girton has once more
outgrown its accommodation, and is appealing for building funds. The
colleges are growing both outwardly and in their aims. Not the least
hopeful feature is the number of ‘graduate’ students who continue their
studies in Cambridge or at one of the foreign universities, or devote to
research or social problems that leisure and freedom from responsibility
which women possess in a greater share than men. The founders have been
abundantly justified in their resolve to establish no mere
training-school for governesses, but to offer a wide and liberal
education to all.
There are some differences in the arrangements of the two colleges. At
Girton each student has two rooms, at Newnham one. The Girton fees are
£105 per annum including coaching and examinations; at Newnham they are
£75, but these items are not in all cases included. Girton supplies cabs
for students who attend lectures in Cambridge; Newnham, being in the
town, is within a walk. Both require every one who has not taken an
equivalent, _e.g._ the higher certificate of the Joint Board, to pass an
entrance examination. Both colleges award scholarships, though scarcely
sufficient to meet the many demands from girls whose parents cannot
afford the payment of full fees. Miss Welsh, one of the early Hitchin
students, is now mistress of Girton; Newnham has a Vice-principal for
each of the halls, and a Principal over the whole. In this post Mrs. H.
Sidgwick succeeded Miss Clough, when the true foundress of Newnham died
in 1892.
There is a good deal of resemblance between the Cambridge colleges and
the Oxford halls, though these latter have a different history. As early
as 1865 a scheme for lectures and classes at Oxford had been organised
by Miss Smith, and remained in operation for several years. In 1873
another similar scheme was set on foot by a committee of ladies, with
Mrs. Max Müller as treasurer, and Mrs. H. Ward and Mrs. Creighton,
followed by Mrs. T. H. Green, as secretaries. The outcome of this was
the Association for the Education of Women, organised in 1878, its
object being ‘to establish and maintain a system of instruction having
general reference to the Oxford examinations.’ Here as at Cambridge the
next step was to found halls of residence to accommodate students from a
distance. Two of these, Somerville and Lady Margaret, were opened in the
same year, 1879; since then two more, St. Hugh’s and St. Hilda’s, have
been added. The great difference, however, between the arrangements at
the two Universities is that the Oxford Association, instead of
amalgamating with the halls, has continued an independent existence,
taking the lead in all matters concerning women’s education. Most
associations of this kind were temporary bodies, which dissolved when
the college or school for which they were working was established, or
when the particular institution with which they were connected had
opened its doors to women. But the Oxford Association has increased in
importance with the development of the colleges, and has become a Board
of Studies for their students, and a means of communication between them
and the University. One of its functions is to organise lectures, to
which members of the University not infrequently request and obtain
admission. It also undertakes the negotiations with the various
professors and colleges that admit women to lectures, and it is thanks
to its exertions that they may now attend under certain regulations
lectures at almost every college in Oxford. Similarly their admission to
university examinations is the work of the Association. In fact, it acts
almost as a feminine department of the University, since it has to
sanction the establishment of halls, make itself responsible for the
studies and discipline of its students, and generally establish their
connection with the University. This connection received its formal
acknowledgment in 1893, when the Dean of Christchurch was appointed to
represent the Hebdomadal Council on the Council of the Association, and
a room in the Clarendon Building was lent it as an office.
There are some other technical differences between the position of women
at Oxford and Cambridge. The latter directly acknowledges the women’s
colleges, the former in theory knows nothing of its women students, but
leaves the Delegacy for Local Examinations to arrange for their
examination. The delegates are allowed for this purpose to use the
papers set by the University examiners for men, and, of course, the
examinations are conducted simultaneously and under exactly the same
conditions. Women may enter for every examination—whether Pass or
Honours—leading to the B.A. degree, and it is this Delegacy which lays
down the special conditions. In all cases a Preliminary examination is
compulsory and in some an Intermediate, but neither the Delegacy nor the
University demands that they should conform to the regulations imposed
on men in regard to duration of study, preliminary examinations and
residence. This has led to greater freedom in work; but, as often
happens, this greater liberty has proved somewhat detrimental. It was
difficult to gauge the value of work done under such conditions, since
some students would end a four years’ course with Moderations and others
at once begin working for the Final Schools. Then there were some
special examinations for women, which by that very restriction failed to
win even the prestige they deserved, and an impression, not quite
unfounded, spread abroad, of a certain vagueness in the Oxford work,
which lessened its value in the eyes of the general public. There was no
real gain in making a selection from a course that had been carefully
planned out by the University for its members, and as this anomalous
state of things had really been brought about by the gradual opening of
the examinations, which made the regular course at first inaccessible to
women students, there seemed no reason for continuing it when once this
difficulty was removed. Oxford women got less credit often than was
their due, simply because some little preliminary formality had been
omitted.
In order to remedy this, and put the whole work on a firmer basis, the
Association decided to institute a system of diplomas for those of its
students who have taken the full course required of members of the
University. This certificate is awarded only to students who have
entered their names on the register qualifying for it, have kept their
residence after date of entry, and passed the examinations of the B.A.
course in the order and under the conditions as to standing prescribed
for members of the University. Another diploma is also offered to those
who have passed a course of three examinations approved by the council.
Though equivalent to the B.A. diploma as regards difficulty of
attainment, there appears to be little demand among recent students for
this alternative course; and it will probably be regarded as a survival
from the days when, the University examinations being only partially
open to women, substitutes had in some cases to be devised. Certificates
are also awarded to those students who have resided not less than eight
terms, and have obtained a class in an Honour Examination of the
University or of the Delegates of Local Examinations. These diplomas and
certificates offer a definite incentive to regular study, and serve at
once to show the value of the work done in each case.
At Oxford, as at Cambridge, an attempt has been made to win complete
acknowledgment for women students by the conferment of the degree. An
appeal was made to the University in 1895. The question came to the vote
in 1896, and here, as afterwards at Cambridge, the proposal was thrown
out by a considerable majority. Oxford women, like their sisters at
Cambridge, must therefore wait a while longer for complete recognition.
The attempt here may have been a little premature, since, owing to the
late opening of the examinations and the latitude allowed to students,
there were at that time very few who had fulfilled all the necessary
conditions. Still the reason of the refusal was probably identical in
both cases, and indicated a deep-rooted prejudice that must be overcome
before further steps can be taken. Meantime the institution of the
degree-certificate is giving fresh impetus to the work, and attracting
larger numbers to the colleges.
Of these Somerville and Lady Margaret were founded almost
simultaneously, but with somewhat different aims, the former being
undenominational, the latter distinctly Church of England. Both were
intended as halls of residence for Association students, but in 1881
Somerville was incorporated as a college ‘to provide for the residence
of women students’ as well as ‘for the instruction of women students and
for the delivery of lectures to such students’; it was not, however,
till 1894 that the term ‘college’ came into general use. Like the
Cambridge colleges it has grown from small beginnings; it has been
enlarged four times, not on one plan but by the addition of fresh
buildings, so that it does not present the appearance of a connected
whole. But standing in pleasant grounds among fine old trees, this very
medley gives it a certain charm. It can now accommodate over seventy
students, besides the Principal, secretary, and four resident tutors.
Many of its old students have gained honourable positions for
themselves; indeed the Principals of two leading women’s colleges,
Holloway and Bedford, were chosen from the ranks of old Somerville
students.
Lady Margaret was founded by the Bishop of Rochester and others, and has
adhered to its original plan of supplying residence to Church members of
the Association. It undertakes no part of the instruction, but makes use
of the Association’s tutorial and lecturing staff. For some years the
numbers continued small, but as they gradually increased it became
necessary to construct an additional hall. Part of this, the Wordsworth
building, was occupied in 1896, when the numbers went up to forty-nine,
and the council are now appealing for additional funds with which to
build a chapel and the central block, to contain the library and
permanent dining-hall. A pretty thatched boat-house on the Cherwell is
an attractive feature of the grounds, and Lady Margaret is proud of its
rowing club. The Principal is Miss Wordsworth, daughter of the late
Bishop of Lincoln and great-niece of the poet. The hall takes its name
from Lady Margaret Beaufort, that renowned patroness of learning, and
there is a cast from her effigy in the tiny college chapel.
In close connection with Lady Margaret is St. Hugh’s. It was founded in
1886 by Miss Wordsworth to provide a more economical residence for women
students. By a system of sharing bedrooms and using common
sitting-rooms, somewhat lower fees became practicable for those who
could not afford the ordinary terms. The plan does not seem to have
proved very successful, and St. Hugh’s has developed into a small
independent hall for twenty-five students, on the same lines as Lady
Margaret, but with a graduated system of fees according to the room
occupied. Like Lady Margaret it is conducted according to the principles
of the Church of England, with liberty for other denominations. It also
uses the tutorial staff of the Association. All students are expected to
read for some University examination unless specially exempted by the
Council. The Principal is Miss Moberly, daughter of the late Bishop of
Salisbury.
The youngest of the Oxford halls is St. Hilda’s. It was founded by Miss
Beale in 1893, and meant in the first instance for students passing on
from Cheltenham to Oxford. This exclusive character has, however, been
abandoned, and it is now formally recognised under the rules of the
Association for the Education of Women. It still receives the greater
part of its students from Cheltenham, though there is nothing now to
exclude others. As yet the numbers are very small. The Principal is Mrs.
Burrows.
Of these four institutions, Somerville, the largest and most
distinguished, is the only undenominational one. All four have the
combined bedroom-studies, with common dining-halls, libraries, etc.
Out-door games, debating societies, college clubs, etc. are as popular
as at Cambridge. All the colleges require an entrance examination or an
alternative, and all give scholarships according to ability. The fees at
Somerville (including board, lodging, tuition and lectures) range from
£78 to £90 according to the room occupied. At Lady Margaret they are
£75, exclusive of tuition, which involves another £20 or £25. At St.
Hugh’s the inclusive terms range from £70 to £90; at St. Hilda’s as at
Lady Margaret, there is a charge of £75, which does not include tuition.
Besides those who reside at the halls other women are frequently
attracted to Oxford. For these, too, the Association makes provision.
Those who avail themselves of the lectures and direction of the
Association, but do not reside in a hall, are registered as home
students, and are placed under the care of a Principal and a committee
of the Council of the Association. They are required to reside, with the
Principal’s approval, in a house sanctioned by the committee, and to
conform to certain rules corresponding to those laid down for hall
students. The Principal performs some of the functions of a tutor.
Students call upon her at the beginning and end of each term, and submit
to her their lists of lectures before sending them in to the office. The
home students are doubtless able to pursue their studies more
economically. The tuition fees seldom exceed £25, and board and lodging
may be had for 25s. a week and upwards. As Oxford terms rarely exceed
eight weeks it is possible by very careful management to keep expenses
down to £50 to £60. As a matter of fact a large proportion of these
students are daughters of Oxford residents. The arrangement is also a
convenient one for foreigners who come to Oxford for a short time only.
Many come in this way from America, after taking a degree in one of
their own colleges. French, German, Russian, Roumanian, Danish, Swedish,
and Norwegian students have at different times resided in Oxford,
working at English language and literature, for the teaching diplomas of
their own country. By helping these the Association can considerably
increase its sphere of usefulness, and without disturbing the work of
the halls it introduces a wider outlook into the lives of the students.
At the same time it is open to home students to take the regular course,
and several of them do so. The committee only registers those who take
up a systematic course of study, extending over at least three terms,
but even those who come for a shorter time can attend its lectures and
profit by its help.
By these varied means the Association is able to draw together all the
agencies for women’s education at Oxford; in 1897 the number of students
on its books was 202, and there is every reason to expect a considerable
increase now that the institution of the degree-diploma has given a
fresh impulse to the work. The steady flow from our girls’ schools to
both Universities proves that the colleges have won appreciation through
the whole of the country. Happily many of the founders are yet among us
to enjoy the fruits of the labours. Girton and Newnham, Somerville and
Lady Margaret, bear eloquent testimony to the truth that the dreamers of
visions are often those who see furthest and best.