THE PER CAPITA COST OF EDUCATION.

Figure 32 shows how the per capita cost of education has increased in the United States for five-year periods beginning in 1870. The data on which the curves depend are found in Table 1. In 1870 the annual cost of education for each person in the population was less than $2. The average has steadily increased since that time until in 1918 the

FIG. 31.-Percentage of current expenses (excluding outlays and payment of bonds) going for the three major functions of expense, 1917-18.

average cost is a little over $7. The rate of increase has been comparatively rapid since 1900.

Probably a better conception of school costs may be secured by noting the other two curves in this figure. The upper one represents the annual cost for each pupil in average daily attendance; the lower one, the daily cost for each pupil attending. The annual cost has increased from $15 per pupil in attendance in 1885 to over $49 in

1918. Since 1900 the increase has been very pronounced. In fact the annual cost has more than doubled in these 18 years. As shown by the "dotted" curve, there was little increase in the average daily cost from 1870 to 1900. Since the latter date the cost has increased from 14 cents to almost 31 cents per day or has more than doubled.

In figure 33 the average annual cost in 1918 for each person in the population is shown by States. In 6 Southern States the per capita cost is less than $3. In these 6 States over 13 millions of people live. In 11 States, of which the population is over 20 millions, the per capita cost is from $3 to $6. In the 4 States averaging highest the

----- AVERAGE COST PER DAY FOR BACH PUPIL ATTENDING (CENTS).

10

1870

1875 1880 1885 1890

1895

1900 1905 1910 1915 1918

FIG. 32.-The total per capita cost of education at various periods, 1870-1918.

cost is over $12 for each person in the population. The average cost for the United States is $7.26.

It was not thought advisable to secure the average annual cost for each child 5 to 18 years of age, since in 4 States and the District of Columbia the number enrolled in school exceeds the number of children of this school age. Since no Federal census has been taken for 8 years, the census estimates are not dependable for States in which there has been considerable shifting in the population. Consequently, the school enrollment serves as a better basis on which to compare the cost of education in one State with that in another. In figure 34 the States have been ranked on the cost for current expenses for each pupil enrolled. The additional per capita cost for

174777°-20-5

FIG. 34.-The annual cost of education per pupil enrolled in school, 1918.

new buildings, sites, and new equipment is added to the end of each bar but does not affect the ranking.. The great variation in the lengths of these "concreted" additions shows the building program in each State reduced to a uniform basis. The magnitude of these projections is subject to variation from year to year, depending on the "building" program, while the main body of the bar will change but slightly from one report to another. It is not derogatory to any State to have incurred a small per capita expenditure for new buildings, since the preceding year may have witnessed unusual expenditures for this purpose and since war conditions may have prevented many building projects contemplated. In figure 34 it is shown that Montana and Nevada each spend over $50 per year for each pupil enrolled. Almost 7 millions of children are enrolled in school in the 16 States, incurring a cost varying from $40 to $50 per pupil. In 3 States, Alabama, North Carolina, and Mississippi, the corresponding average cost is less than $10. In 10 States the average cost varies from $10 to $20 per pupil. The average cost for all pupils in the United States is $30.91. In the highest State the average cost is more than seven times as much as it is in the lowest State.

Since the per cent of school attendance varies considerably in the different States, the preceding figure may not properly represent what is being spent for education. Figure 35 shows just how much is spent annually for each pupil in average daily attendance. The bars represent this annual cost for meeting current expenses, while the "concreted" ends again represent the annual cost of outlays. In 3 States, Montana, Arizona, and Nevada, the average cost is over $70 per pupil attending, while at the other extreme the average is less than $15 in Tennessee, North Carolina, and Mississippi. The average cost for each pupil in average daily attendance in the United States is $41.45. The corner graph shows that the average amount spent on 21 millions of pupils varies from $10 to $20 per year. For 11⁄2 millions of pupils in average attendance the annual cost is over $60. For the largest single group of pupils the average varies from $40 to $50.

As the average length of the school term varies from 113 days in South Carolina to 193 days in Rhode Island, it is evident that the annual cost for each pupil attending daily does not enable one to gain a true conception of school costs. In other words, the school costs have not been reduced to a common unit of measurement. For example, in South Carolina the annual cost per pupil in average daily attendance is $17.48, while in Rhode Island it is $47.83. From these two averages alone it would appear that Rhode Island spends 2.7 times as much as South Carolina. This is true for the total amount spent annually for each child attending daily, but it does not mean that the quality of instruction, as measured in dollars and cents, is