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2

EXTRACT FROM THE THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE MINISTER OF EDUCATION, Higher Education. The New Zealand University, the body which lias general control of higher education in New Zealand, was founded by the New Zealand University Acts of 1870, 1874, and 1875. In 1876 the University was recognized by Royal charter as entitled to grant the degrees of Bachelor and Master in Arts, and Bachelor and Doctor in Law, Medicine, and Music. The Amendment Act of 1883, and the supplementary charter issued in December of the same year, added the degrees of Bachelor and Doctor of Science. Moreover, in 1904, the University Degrees Act gave the University authority to confer degrees of Doctor of Literature, Master of Laws, Surgery, and Science, and Bachelor, Master, and Doctor of Veterinary Science, Dental Surgery, Mechanical, Electrical, Civil, Mining, and Metallurgical Engineering, Naval Architecture, Agriculture, Public Health, and Commerce. For these latter no further charter has been given, so that nominally they must be considered as having currency only in New Zealand. The affairs of the University of New Zealand are controlled by a Senate, which, under the New Zealand University Amendment Act, 1902, consists of twenty-four members or Fellows —four elected by the Governor in Council; eight by the governing bodies of the four affiliated institutions, two by each; four, one each, by the Professorial Boards; and eight, two each, by the four District Courts of Convocation, consisting of the graduates belonging to the several University districts. The revenue of the University is derived chiefly from a statutory Government grant of £3,000 per annum, from examination and diploma fees, and from interest on money invested. Half the amount of the statutory grant is, in accordance with a decision of the Senate, set apart for a Scholarship Fund, and, as this sum, together with the interest on the accumulated Scholarship Fund, is less than the annual expenditure on scholarships, the result has been to place the Scholarship Fund on a sound financial basis. The following table shows the principal items of income and expenditure of the University of New Zealand for the years 1909 and 1910 :-- Income. 1909. 1910. j, Expenditure. 1909. 1910. Balances— £ & |] £ £ General Account .. .. 3,852 3,514! Scholarships .. .. .. 1,915 2,070 Scholarship Account .. .. 22,186 23,775 : Examinations .. .. .. 4,953 5,588 ji Office salaries .. .. .. 1,086 1,217 20,038 27,289 Expenses of Senate meetings .. 480 555 Statutory grant .. .. .. 3,000 3.000J Miscellaneous .. ..' .. 753 721 Fees .. .. .. .. 6,303 6,783'! Balances .. .. .. 27,289 28,131 Interest .. .. .. 1,009 1,071. Miscellaneous .. .. .. 75 145] £36,425 £38,288 £36,425 £38,288 The special scholarship and prize funds accounts have not been taken into consideration in this statement. The balance at the end of the year, £28,131, is made up as follows : General Account, £3,841 ; Scholarship Account, £24,290. It will therefore be seen that, apart from scholarships, the University had in hand for general purposes the sum of £3,841, the chief charges against which were the sum of £1,766 due to the English examiners for the degree examinations of November, 1910, and the'expenses of administration. The University is an examining, not a teaching, body, and four teaching institutions are affiliated to it—the Auckland University College, Victoria College, Canterbury College, and Otago University. Of these four institutions the two first mentioned —Auckland University College and Victoria College—each receive an annual statutory grant of £4,000, supplemented during each of the last two years by grants of £1,200 and £1,500 respectively, while the two others —Canterbury College and Otago University- -are endowed with reserves of land. The affairs of these University Colleges, including the appointment of professors and lecturers, are entirely in the hands of their various Councils. Each of the four affiliated University Colleges specializes in certain directions, and to further this purpose Government makes to each an annual grant