E.—l

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The total number of students described as taking definite courses at the affiliated colleges was 3,944, distributed as follows : Arts, 1,675 ; science, 381 ; medicine, 223 ; dentistry, 101 ; law, 504 ; commerce, 530 ; music, 48 ; engineering, 147 ; agriculture, 23 ; home science, 119 ; architecture, 56 ; journalism, 51 ; mining, 22 ; forestry, 31 ; massage, 19 ; and education, 14. The number of exempted students was 516 in 1927 and 547 in 1928, the numbers in actual attendance at lectures being 4,362 and 4,255 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 ; 1928, 4,802. Of the 4,802 students on the books in 1928, 3,410 students or 71 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 58 per cent, in the case of women, or 44 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 and certain 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 1928 .. .. .. 1,061 It is interesting to note that in New Zealand in 1926 the number of students for every 1,000 persons in the population was 2-98 ; while in New South Wales there were 1-03 students per 1,000 ; in Victoria, 1-53 per 1,000 ; in Queensland, 0-55 ; in South Australia, 2-78 ; in Western Australia, 1-48 ; and in Tasmania, 0-97. 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 .. .. .. .. .. 32 43 Teachers and training-college students . . . . .. 22 44 Government and local-body employees . . .. .. 16 1 Employees of private firms .. .. .. .. 29 6 Not known .. .. .. . . . . .. .. 1 6 100 100 The number of full-time students as a percentage of the total number of students attending lectures was 57 in the case of Otago, 21 in the case of Auckland, 24 in the case of Victoria, and 37 in the case of Canterbury. The number of candidates for examinations conducted by the University of New Zealand shows an increase when compared with the previous year's figures. For the Matriculation Examination there were 5,524 candidates, as against 5,287 candidates in the previous year. Of the candidates who sat last year for the Matriculation Examination 1,824 passed, and 288 who already held partial passes completed the examination. There were 6,204 entries for the various degree examinations, compared with 6,371 in 1927.