The question of Expense, like many other Oxford questions, is very difficult to discuss within the limits of a general statement. And yet this has arisen with probably greater frequency than any other single question since it was announced that the Rhodes Scholarships were to have an annual value of £300. Is Oxford expensive? How far will £300 carry a man? Why and how do the various Colleges vary in expensiveness? What are the necessary expenditures?

In one of its memoranda (U.S.A.) the Rhodes Trust makes the following statement:—

‘The sum of £300 is no more than is necessary to cover the expenses of the year, including Vacations as well as Term. A Scholar must not therefore count on his Scholarship as leaving any margin—least of all in his first year, in which, owing to unavoidable initial payments, expenses are heaviest. Experience suggests that a Scholar should start his Oxford career free from financial embarrassment.’

Mr. Wells, in his chapter on expenses of Oxford Life,[64] discusses and gives reasons for the various financial demands which the average student has to meet. Stripped of the discussion, his opinion is, ‘it may fairly be said that a man who wishes to live like other people, but is willing to be careful, may be at College for about £160[65] a year, out of which he can pay for his clothes, travelling, &c., and find himself in pocket-money.’ But this, of course, implies that he has a home at which to spend his Vacations, while no allowance is made for travelling in Vacation.

‘Oxford is emphatically a place for the well-to-do, or those who by their brains have provided themselves with scholarships and exhibitions.’

‘The whole tradition of the place is against economy.... The world in general expects Oxford to entertain it, ... and I do not think we disappoint expectations in this respect.’

‘At the same time ... the cost of an Oxford education cannot be called high, judged by the standard of what is usually paid for education in England.’

There is no need for attempting here an explanation of the reasons for the facts which occasion these conclusions as set forth by Mr. Wells; but, keeping these statements in mind in connexion with the following sketch of necessary expenditures, one may readily see the reason for the statement in the Rhodes Trust’s Memorandum as quoted above.[66]

£300 is a comfortable sum, but it does not leave margins to be wasted in riotous living or hoarded as a nucleus for a fortune. It will carry the careful man through the year; but Rhodes evidently thought that in most cases the Scholars would have some supplementary means—an asset, under the circumstances, very desirable.

The Rhodes Scholar who expects to live the year round on £300 should realize at once that he is not to lay out for himself an extravagant programme. He will have, in fact, to figure closely in order to make this sum cover his necessary expenses for the whole year.

There exists a considerable difference in the averages of expense for different Colleges. This statement should not, however, be misinterpreted. It is possible, mathematically, to live at what would be styled ‘an expensive College’ at a minimum not much greater than that of a ‘cheap College’ (excepting special arrangements, e. g. Keble and St. Edmund Hall). But when it comes to practice, the atmosphere of the Colleges must be taken into consideration.

In order to enjoy the advantages of College life, to get and to give the best possible, the student should be ready and able to move on a plane with the average men about him. This does not mean that he shall go with the most expensive ‘set’ in his College, but he should be able to follow Rhodes’s famous injunction, ‘Do the comparative.’

Every Oxford Student has sooner or later to draw on his bank account to meet the following demands:—

Necessary expenses for every one include—

1. University Expenses.

1. Matriculation (once only) £3 10s.

2. University Quarterly Dues, 12s. 6d. (twelve shillings and sixpence) per Term (four times per year).

3. Examination Fees (see Table, p. 103).

4. University Degree Fees (see Table, p. 103).

2. College Expenses.

1. Entrance, or Matriculation, Fee required in most Colleges—average £5 (once only) (see Table, p. 105).

2. Caution money. Caution money is a deposit of a certain sum in advance, required in most Colleges, in order to secure the College against loss through damage to property or non-payment of College bills. With regard to Rhodes Scholars each College has made its own arrangements. As these arrangements stand at present, fourteen Colleges require no deposit; four have required £10; one has required £20; and one has required £40; while two do not require caution money of any one. (For the sake of foreign students, the sums ordinarily required of Commoners have been included in the Table at the end of this Chapter, col. 2.[67])

Caution money, when required, is, as a rule, paid back, in whole or in part, when the student ‘goes down’ (finally); in some instances a part is retained and applied to the expense of ‘keeping name on the College books’ and towards paying for M.A. degree.

3. Furnishing. It is necessary for every student in College to provide himself with table-linen and table-ware, bed linen, &c. For instance, one College suggests, ‘2 pair sheets, 3 pillow-cases, 3 table-cloths, 6 towels, toilet-covers, glass-cloths, dusters, set of china (½ doz.); 6 each of small knives, large knives, teaspoons, dessert-spoons, table-spoons, small forks, large forks, tumblers, ... cruet-stands, salt-cellars and spoons.’ Kettle, coffee and teapots are also needed. These items may involve from £7 up, according to the taste of the individual. Frequently some of them may be purchased from the scout.

The incoming tenant often finds it necessary to purchase or rent several additions to the furniture which he finds in his rooms (see Furniture, infra), and often has to see to numerous repairs—for the furniture is handed on ‘from generation to generation’.

4. Tuition. Under ordinary circumstances undergraduates pay the regular tuition specified in the following Table, averaging £8 per Term. Research students are in some cases released from a part of this tuition, but may have to pay for other tuition (special).

5. Room-rent. Rhodes Scholars will spend their first two years at least in College. (For rental rates, see Table, p. 105.) On an average, rooms in College cost less rental than ‘licensed lodgings’. (See p. 66.)

6. Furniture—Rental or Purchase. It is the custom in Oxford for the out-going tenant to leave most of his furniture for sale to the incoming tenant. The College has an assessor who ‘values’ the furniture each time the room changes occupants. Some Colleges act merely as ‘sales agents’, the purchase money passing from new to old occupant through the College offices. In many cases the College owns the furniture and rents it to the student. Where rental is allowed the cost comes to about fifteen per cent. of the valuation of the furniture, per year; that is, about five per cent. is charged for use of the furniture, and ‘depreciation’ is charged at the rate of from five per cent. to ten per cent. per year.

7. Battels. The term ‘battels’ is used in two senses. In its larger sense it is applied to the Terminal bill which is sent three times per year by the College to each of its students. In this sense it embraces all items of current account between College and student (including University Quarterly dues); College dues; tuition; College (amalgamated) clubs[68]; room-rent; furniture-rent; ‘establishment charges’ (i. e. cost of maintaining College plant, &c.); meals; groceries; coal; lights; laundry; messenger and gate-bills; fines; and all extra charges (percentages, breakage bills, special fees, &c.).

In its restricted sense ‘battels’ means a weekly statement which covers dinners in hall—all meals; groceries and supplies for breakfasts, luncheons, teas and coffee from kitchen, buttery, and common-room; coal and faggots; messenger and gate fees (i. e. items of consumption and of special service).

These statements are sent out each week—dinners in hall average 12s.-14s. per week. In Winter Terms coal and faggots average about 4s. per week (less in Summer Term). The other items are entirely at disposal of the individual.

It is possible to keep these weekly bills as low as £1 5s., but this is far below the average. From £12 to £20[69] per Term is a fair estimate, with moderate living, for these items.

8. Additional Charges. There are a certain number (as reference to Handbook, Chap. iii, will show) of not inconsiderable charges, which might be classed collectively as ‘fixed charges’ were it not that they vary in different Terms, or as ‘establishment charges’ were it not that that term differs in its comprehensiveness in different Colleges. In this class we may collect those charges which are made by each College under some or all of the following designations.

Establishment charges:—Strictly speaking, for maintenance of College buildings and current expense of the College plant; library fund; building fund; College dues; porters; bed-making; shoe-cleaning; percentage charged on kitchen and grocery bills, rates, taxes[70], increased in direct proportion to totals of other parts of battels which cover optional items.

9. Gratuity to College servants. The Colleges recognize a ‘tip’ to the scout, and scout’s boy; and small tips to porters, messengers, boot-cleaners, &c., are customary. In-College students may reckon about £2-£3 per term for these gratuities.

10. Amalgamated Clubs. The membership in College clubs is one of the ‘not compulsory but obligatory’ items in College expenses. Students are not required to join, but every man who is active in the College life becomes a member of the Amalgamated Club. Initiation fee averages £2 (paid, of course, once only); Terminal dues average £2, three times per year (generally included in Terminal battels).

These are what may fairly be considered the necessary items of current expense, exclusive of University charges, degree fees, the sum which is laid down as caution money, and investment in furniture, furnishings and repairs.

The total of Terminal battels will amount, for a man who lives comfortably without extravagance, to between £40 and £55 per term (three times per year) according to his College. This is exclusive of books, clothing, and any ‘not-College’ expenses.

11. Degree Fees. Each College charges a fee, varying from £1 1s. to £7, when a student takes a B.A. degree; from £1 1s. to £8 4s. when he takes an M.A., &c. (see Table, p. 105). This is exclusive of and in addition to the degree fee charged by the University.

In addition to these necessary College expenses it may be as well to have in mind other probable expenses.

Athletics. Athletic life, almost universal in Oxford, involves the purchase of one’s own costumes and outfit. Entrance into various contests costs small sums ranging from 2s. 6d. in College tennis tournaments, to £3 10s. before one may enter inter-College boat races.[71] To the man who is successful in athletics expenditure for ribbons and blazers involves some outlay, often considerable. Needless to say, such expenses should be very welcome.

Clubs (other than the Amalgamated Clubs). Membership to the Union costs £1 1s. entrance fee, and £1 5s. per Term; or life membership may be commuted at £10 10s.

The in-College clubs are inexpensive, with a few exceptions. Several University clubs cost at the rate of about £1 1s. per Term; while a few of the more exclusive clubs are very expensive.

Subscriptions. Certain charitable subscriptions, to which most men give, may average about £1 10s. per year.

Occasional Expenses. Exceptional expenses, which a man may expect to meet at least once during his three years, are subscriptions for sending a College crew to some regatta, which involves from £1 up; and for a College ball, which will also average about £1.

Rental of a punt or canoe during Summer Term is not a necessity, but it is a very possible extra, involving another pound or two.

To discuss riding and driving, &c., of course takes us into the realm of luxuries.

It is useless to deal with optional details; but when all is said and done, the man who expects to take Oxford as Oxford is, and who, while not extravagant, is at the same time not inclined to stint himself, must expect to put between £175 and £200 as a minimum into his six months at Oxford.[72]

The intricacy and the elastic possibilities of the battel-sheet, together with the diversity of plans existing in different Colleges, make it impossible to arrive at accurate comparative figures, but the following is a fair sample of one Term’s battels.

(For eight weeks.)

A TABLE OF CERTAIN UNIVERSITY CHARGES.

University Fees.

Note.—For more complete list of examination fees see Examination Statutes or Handbook.

A TABLE OF CERTAIN COLLEGE CHARGES.

The columns in the following table correspond with the numerical arrangement of ‘College expenses’ above.

The figures in columns 1, 2, 4, 5 and 11 are taken from the seventeenth (1906) edition of the Student’s Handbook.

It is impossible to give exact figures for Furnishings, Furniture, Battels, Additional Charges, Gratuities, and Amalgamated Clubs (i. e. items 3, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 respectively), and therefore they are omitted from this table.

With regard to caution money (column 2), see ‘2. Caution Money’ above.