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U N IT E D ST A T E S D E P A R T M E N T OF L A B O R
Frances Perkins, Secretary
B U R E A U OF L A B O R STATISTICS
Isador Lukin, Commissioner (on leave)
A . F. Hinrichs, A ctin g Commissioner

Student Cooperatives in the
United States, 1941

Bulletin 7s[o. 740
{Reprinted from the Monthly Labor Review, April 1943, with additional data]

U N IT E D S T A T E S
G O V E R N M E N T P R IN T IN G OFFICE
W A S H IN G T O N : 1943

For sale by the Superintendent o f Documents, U . S. Governm ent Printing Office
Washington, D . C. - Price 10 cents

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

n it e d

States D epartm ent of L abo r,
B u r e a u o f L a b o r S t a t is t ic s ,

Washington, D. C., April 19, 1948.
The S e c r e t a r y o f L a b o r :
I have the honor to transmit herewith a report on student coopera
tives in the United States, a study made jointly by the University
of Maryland and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
A. F. H i n r i c h s , Acting Commissioner.
Hon.

rances

e r k in s ,

Secretary of Labor.
n

CONTENTS
Page

Preface_______________________________________
Summary______________________________________________________________
Kinds of cooperative and joint activity in schools----------------------------------Geographical distribution of associations and membership_______________
Age of associations_____________________________________________________
Kind and amount of business__________________________________________
Price policies and charges---------------------------------------------------------------------Financial resources____________________________________________________
Administration and management----------------------------------------------------------Cooperative practice among student cooperatives_______________________
Employment and wages in student cooperatives_________________________
Problems of cooperatives_______________________________________________
Relations with other cooperatives______________________________________
Advantages of student cooperatives____________________________________
Book and supply cooperatives:
Financial structure------------------------------------------------------------------------Membership requirements-------------------------------------------------------------Administration and management-------------------------------------------------__
Goods handled........................ — ----------------------------------------------------Price and credit policy------------------------------------------------------------------Services to nonmembers___________________________________________
Disposal of net income____________________________________________
Major problems______________________________
Associations providing rooms or board or both:
Financial structure------------------------------------------------------------------------Membership provisions____________________________________________
Administration and management--------------------------------------Price policies and charges__________________________________________
Service in enterprise by members---------------------------------------------------Facilities of associations___________________________________________
Disposal of net income------------------------------------------------------------------Major problems___________________________________________________
Appendix.— List of educational institutions in the United States having
student cooperatives_________________________________________________
in

iv
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3
5
6
7
9
10
11
13
16
17
18
20
21
22
22
23
24
24
24
25
25
26
27
29
33
34
35
36
39

PREFACE

The present survey of campus cooperatives was initiated in the
spring of 1941, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics was approached by
members of the faculty of the College of Commerce of the University
of Maryland, proposing a joint study by the Bureau and the Uni
versity. In the University of Maryland, as in other schools, numerous
students had to drop out each year because of insufficient funds to
pay their necessary expenses. Knowing that the problem had been
met, in other places, by the formation of cooperative associations
which undertook to provide their members with board and room at
very low costs, it was proposed to study the various types of organiza
tions. It was thought that the data obtained should yield informa
tion on the basis of which it would be possible to draw up a set of
At the time the study was undertaken the University of Maryland
was offering a 4-year course in cooperation and, in order to afford
the enrollees experience and first-hand data, it was agreed that their
services would be utilized to the greatest possible extent. The stu
dents, under the direction of their instructors, sent out preliminary
inquiries to approximately 1,700 colleges and universities throughout
the United States to ascertain what, if any, cooperative activity was
being carried on on their campus. Names of cooperatives thus ob
tained were added to the list of student cooperatives that had been
compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the course of its work
over many years. The Bureau’s list also included the names of a
considerable number of cooperatives in schools of less than college
rank.
A series of three questionnaires was drawn up jointly by the Bureau
and the University. One of these covered general information com
mon to all student cooperatives and the other two called for supple
mentary data on points pertinent to the book and supply associa
tions and to the rooming and boarding cooperatives, respectively.
These were sent by the students to all of the organizations on the
combined list in the spring of 1942, to obtain data on operations in
1941. Follow-up requests to nonreporting associations were sent out
later.
It had been planned that the students would also do the work of
checking in and editing the returns, determine the cooperative status
of the reporting organizations, tabulate the data, and eventually help
to draw up the final report. Unfortunately the school year drew to
a close before this could be done, the professors who had been directing
the study went into w ar activities, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics
therefore undertook the tabulation of the collected data and the
writing of the present report. The study owes its inception to Prof.
Lincoln Clark, then at the University, now in the War Production
Board. The work of obtaining the basic information was done under
the direction of Professor Clark and Prof. Victor W. Bennett. The
report itself was prepared by Florence E. Parker of the Bureau of
Labor Statistics.
A. F. H i n r i c h s ,
Acting Commissioner.
IV

Bulletin 7\[o. 740 o f the
U nited States Bureau o f Labor Statistics
[Reprinted from the M onthly L abor R e v ie w , April 1943, with additional data]

STUDENT COOPERATIVES IN THE UNITED STATES,
1941
Sum m ary

THERE was comparatively little cooperative activity in American
colleges until the depression that started in 1929. Prior to that time
a number of college bookstores had been started— some dating back to
the 1880’s and 1890’s—which operated on a more or less cooperative
basis. Some of these had grown to considerable size but not, generally,
as a result of any great student activity in the organization.
ST U D E N T C O O PER AT IVES IN T H E D EPR ESSIO N

The student working his way through college has always been
common in most educational institutions in the United States. The
plight of this type of student, as well as that of students whose parents
were barely able to finance an education for their children, became
more and more acute as the depression progressed. It was a situa
tion that called for exercise of all the ingenuity that could be sum
moned and for trying new techniques to cut student living costs.
This situation gave rise to the so-called cooperative house or “ living”
organization, whereby these needy students could pool their scanty
funds and, by doing all the work themselves, provide board and
shelter for the group.
One writer thus describes 1 the situation out of which the earliest
of the cooperative houses grew:
Incomes from home were shrinking away to nothing: worse, the jobs upon
which so many of them depended to carry them through the college year were
disappearing as the army of unemployed grew.
In 1933 some of these boys were putting up a desperate struggle. They lived
in the cheapest of rooms, ate at the meanest lunch counters, ana too many times
went to class hungry. One of them had lived for 2 weeks on a diet of bread and
apples. That spring a lot of these ambitious boys saw no chance of coming back
the following fall.

The “ cooperative house” provided an opportunity for the student
with determination to continue. In one such case, the college— a
vocational school— gave a group of students a 10-year lease on a plot
of ground on the campus and the boys built themselves a house and
made much of the furniture in it. As most of them came from farm
homes where food was plentiful, though cash was not, they con
tributed fresh and home-canned fruits and vegetables and one boy 1
1Bertram B. Fowler In Survey Graphic, June 1939.

STUDENT COOPERATIVES IN TH E UNITED STATES, 1 9 4 1

even brought a cow. Additional food was raised in the boys’ own
kitchen garden.
In another institution a group of 12 students acting on the suggestion
of a faculty adviser rented a long-vacant dilapidated house, made an
arrangement with the owner whereby he furnished materials, and not
only put the house in repair but sank a well and made water connec
tions. Furniture and furnishings either were made by the boys or
were brought from home. This association was successful from the
first and became the pattern for many other similar groups on the same
campus, until finally all the suitable nearby housing was exhausted
and the college itself undertook the construction of additional build
ings which are operated on a semicooperative basis.
In a western university the student cooperative housing movement
started during the worst of the depression (in 1933) when a small group
of students pooled their meager resources, rented a house, and began to
furnish their own meals, in order that they might continue theneducation. From that small beginning the group has expanded year
by year, reaching a membership of over 650 in 1941. It has taken
over, one after another, five apartment houses, converting the apart
ments into sleeping rooms for the members. All of the buying is done
through one office and it is reported that the food for three of the
houses is prepared in one kitchen.
D E V E L O P M E N T OF ST U D E N T C O O P E R A T IV E S

The movement thus started continued to expand through 1941,
when it was halted by conditions arising out of the war. Some of the
associations grew out of the economic necessity of the members as
noted above. Others arose from the members’ interest in the co
operative movement, resulting from their academic studies or from in
formal discussion groups of their own.
Some of the leaders in the campus cooperative movement were
interested to find out what students at other schools were doing and
made contacts by correspondence or personal visit. These early
contacts led to several conferences of delegates from the student
cooperatives in several areas, at which experiences were exchanged
and common problems discussed. Out of these conferences grew the
three regional leagues of campus cooperatives now in existence— the
Midwest Federation of Student Cooperatives (1939), the Pacific Coast
Student Cooperative League (1940), and the Central League of
Campus Co-ops (1940).
At the end of 1941 there were nearly 300 active student cooperatives
on 144 campuses in 44 States. In addition there were many educa
tional institutions where the college itself provided so-called “ co
operative houses” or dormitories, selecting as residents deserving
students who “ cooperated” to the extent of performing the necessary
household duties and thus reducing their living expenses, but had no
control over the actual management of the organization.2
On the basis of a study recently completed, made jointly by the
University of Maryland and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it is
estimated that in 1941 about 50,000 students were members of
campus cooperatives and that these student enterprises did a business
of over $6,000,000 in that year. Of the associations furnishing meals,3
3 The Bureau has record of 210 such cooperative groups. Schedules were received from 44 of these, with a
membership of 4,165 in 1941; 30 of them had a combined business of $860,149 in that year.

KINDS OF COOPERATIVE AND JOINT ACTIVITY

112, with 6,940 members, reported they had served over 138,000 meals
per week during the school year.
In certain of the cooperative houses some of the members not only
carried out their share of the work, but earned part of the cash cost of
their board and room by performing extra tasks. In addition many
of the students were working outside to earn at least part of their
expenses. There is one student cooperative on the Pacific coast the
function of which is to obtain paid jobs for the members. A student
housing association in the Southwest reported that 40 percent of its
members earned all of their expenses and 75 percent earned more than
half. A Kansas association stated that most of its members have
outside paid employment; in fact they have built up a local repu
tation for their reliable services, so that when anyone has some work
to be done he calls upon the cooperative.
Social disadvantages that might attach to organizations so obviously
designed for students on a lower-than-average economic level are dis
pelled by emphasis on character and scholarship and by a program of
social and athletic events during the school year. Where there are
several student cooperatives on the campus, social activities are
generally carried on jointly and on a few campuses there are interco
operative councils. Joint purchasing of food and other supplies is also
done for the purpose of economy in buying.
The levels of scholarship attained by the members of these houses—
quite largely students who are earning all or part of their expenses—
is a matter of justifiable pride to the associations. Report after report
pointed out that on the basis of the average grade of the residents the
association was at or near the top, among the various organizations
represented on the campus.
Although the “ living” associations are generally started by the
needier students who must make every penny count, the 84 associa
tions that reported as to equipment owned had accumulated furniture
and other household equipment amounting to $145,230. Assets total
ing $2,180,231 were reported by 87 associations, and the members of 49
cooperatives owned an equity (members7 capital, reserves, surplus,
and undivided earnings) amounting to $1,141,429.
The 181 associations reporting in the study represented 114 educa
tional institutions in the United States. These included cooperatives
in 39 universities (of which 25 were State universities), 14 theological
schools, 50 colleges (of which 6 were teachers7 colleges), 2 institutes
(other than theological), 5 junior colleges, and 4 schools of less than
junior-college rank. Five Negro educational institutions were repre
sented among the reporting associations.
K in ds o f Cooperative and Joint A ctivity in Schools

The student cooperatives include not only the stores handling books
and students7supplies, eating clubs (which do not run rooming houses),
and associations providing both board and room, but also several
credit unions, a valet association, and a few associations which (begin
ning as eating clubs, bookstores, etc.) have expanded into general
supply associations serving the whole locality. Until the war inter
vened, the “ living” association was the most rapidly growing form of
student cooperative, for it provided assistance at precisely the point
of heaviest expense and thus enabled many students to continue their
education who would otherwise have had to leave college.

STUDENT COOPERATIVES IN THE UNITED STATES,

1941

The organizations from which reports were received fell into three
types, the organization and operation of which may be briefly de
scribed as follows:
1. In some cases the college provides the premises (house, dormitory,
or store), undertakes responsibility for management, and provides
services for a low, fixed fee (also meeting such deficits as may occur).
If the enterprise is one providing living accommodations the residents
are chosen by the college from among the needier students, on the basis
of character and scholarship. Their “ cooperative” activity consists of
working together in the household tasks, thus earning at least part of
their expenses. There may be an association of students in connection
with the enterprise and it may have a certain leeway regarding house
hold matters; however, final control on all points is vested in the college.
In this survey all organizations of this type were discarded as not being
genuinely cooperative.3
2. Organizations considerably more cooperative in nature and
operation are found in some colleges where the students live in a build
ing rented from the college, and operate the enterprise, under the
general supervision of a college-appointed house mother. In these
cases there is a student cooperative association with board of directors,
and all the practical details and problems connected with the house are
settled either by the board or by the members in membership meeting.
The college, however, has majority representation on the board and a
deciding voice (where it chooses to exercise it) in the selection of the
resident members. There is usually some subsidy by the college (such
as payment of house mother’s salary, etc.). These associations were
classed as semicooperative and were included in the tabulations.
3. The third type was cooperative in all respects. The students
had initiated the enterprise, were operating it themselves on a selfsupporting basis, and had final and complete control of the policies
and actions. Many of these had some faculty members on the board.
In some associations these were elected by the faculty members of the
cooperative, mothers they were elected by the total membership; in
either case they served as representatives of the members, not of the
college. In other associations certain members of the faculty were
chosen by the students and served in an advisory capacity only.
A distinctly friendly and encouraging attitude on the part of most
colleges toward the student cooperatives on their campuses is evident
from the reports at hand. Often, individual professors or the faculty
as a whole have been responsible for starting the organization or have
given great assistance in getting it under way. In some cases the
college itself has advanced loans as the original capital. Faculty
advisers have done a great deal by their interest and advice to keep
the local cooperatives operating on an even keel. Only one associa
tion reported a really unfriendly attitude on the part of the educa
tional institution whose students it served, and only a few associa
tions reported indifference or general lack of interest.
A few cooperatives were initiated by or suggested to the students
by teachers in the school, with the idea of giving the pupils some ex
perience in running a business enterprise.
Most of the cooperatives stand on their own feet, paying all of their
own operating expenses. A few, as noted, are subsidized to a certain
extent by the institution whose campus they serve. Thus, the college
3See footnote 2, page 2.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND MEMBERSHIP

may provide space and heat for a bookstore or eating club and possibly
also furnish light. One college helps to pay the salary of the coopera
tive manager by offering a scholarship of $100 each semester; the co
operative pays the rest of his remuneration. Such cases are infre
quent, however, and even some of the favored associations feel
that the arrangement restricts their independence and subjects them
to too much college control.
In some schools one or more of the cooperative houses have had
advice and assistance from groups or organizations outside the
campus. Among the associations reporting in this study were houses
sponsored by the Associated Students of the college, 4-H Clubs,
Y. W. C. A. or Y. M. C. A., college alumni, Association of University
Women, local business clubs, etc. At the University of Texas many
of the houses have been built for the cooperatives by organized as
sistance from the people of the counties from which the residents have
come; the associations incorporate in their names the name of the
sponsoring county.
Geographical D istribution o f Associations and M em bership

Of 297 students’ associations known to the Bureau, 181 furnished
usable reports. As indicated in table 1, nearly 70 percent (124) of
the reporting associations were eating clubs or associations furnish
ing rooms either with or without board, 47 were store associations
handling books and students’ supplies or other commodities, 4 were
credit unions, 5 were educational bodies, and 1 was a cleaning and
pressing association. Generally, each association had a single place
of business. However, one of the bookstore associations has several
branches, and a small proportion of rooming-house associations each
operate a number of houses. Thus, in one university one association
has 6 buildings and another runs 2. Associations in other places run
2, 5, 9, and 16 dwellings each. In the typical association providing
lodging and board the membership consists of the residents of one
house, and the average size (66) of these associations is therefore con
siderably below that of the other types. However, that average in
cludes several associations operating more than one house and 4
associations operating from 5 to 16 each; in the individual associations
membership ranged from 9 to 666. Among the book and supply
cooperatives the range was from 10 to 14,345 and the average 1,006.
T able 1.— M em bership o f R eporting Student Cooperatives, by T ype , 1941
Membership
Commodity or service provided

Total
number
of
associa
tions
reporting

Associa
tions
reporting
member
ship

Number
of
members

Average
per
associa
tion

All types............................................................................

181

154

41,627

270

Books and students" supplies...........................................
Other supplies...................................................................
Rooms and/or meals.........................................................
Loans............................ —................................................
Other.................................................................................

43
4
124
4
6

32
4
116
1
1

32,194
360
7,642
281
1,150

1,006
00
66
281
1,150

524053 ° -

STUDENT COOPERATIVE'S IN THE UNITED STATES,

1941

As indicated in table 2, the largest numbers of associations were
found in Illinois (40), California (24), and Michigan (23). Five other
States (New York, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, and Wisconsin) had over
10 associations each.
T able 2.— Geographic D istribution o f Student Cooperatives and o f M em bership , 1941

Total
number
of known
associa Total
tions

State

Reporting associations

Number
Rooming
asso
and/or Other of
ciations Members
boarding
reporting

Book
and
supply

181

1
2
6
18
4
2
1
1
4

1
1

California.............................................
Colnradn
Connecticut.— _______ - ____ - _____
District of Columbia______- ________
Florida
r ..
Cpnrgia

3~
2
6
24
10
2
1
2
8

Idaho _________________ ____ ____
Illinois..................................................
Indiana J1,
_
Towa
...
Kansas _ ____
Kentucky________________________
Louisiana________________________
Maryland________________________
Massachusetts____________________

2
40
5
2
8
4
5
2
8

Michigan_________________________
Minnesota________________________
Mississippi_______________________
Missouri__________________________
Montana___________ - _____________
Nebraska
______________________
New Hampshire __________________
New Jersey
. _ ._ N ew M exico
_________________
New Y o rk ._______________________
North Carolina____________________
North Dakota
Ohio.....................................................

297

Total....................................................
Alabama
„
__
A rizona__ _________ ___ __ ______

Oklahoma

Oregon______ ___________________
Pennsylvan ia_____________________
Rhode Island ____________________
Sout-b Carolina
. . __............. _
South Dakota

Washington

Wisconsin _______________________
Wyoming_________________________

154

41,627

1
2
6
12
3
2
1
1
3

140
2,430
390
2.189
77
3,950
300
281
605

1
24
5

118
1,576
633

2
1

102
110

1
4

100
15,265

13
5

349
301

1
2
5

1
3
5

60
225
168

1
6
10
4

2
1

i
13

1
28
5

*7
1

1
19
4

2
2

2
4

1
3

23
9
3
5
2
5
1
6
1

12
7
1
1
2
5

4
1

2
1

3,528
27

13
5

6
2
1
12

3
2
1
7

4
1
1
11

169
25
36
1,960
394
3,602
479

Tennessee
Texaa ___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Utah.....................................................
Vermont__________________________
Virginia__________________________

124

12
7
1

r _ _ _ __

Membership

2
20
1
1

3
2
17

2
6
5

2
1
1
12
5

3
1

1
1

1
1
14
1
1
1
2
8

2
5
2

2
6
4

1
12
1

110

1
1
11
1
1

300
50
367
120
388

2
8

321
382

2
7

1Includes 1 which also handles books, etc.
*Includes 1 which also provides meals.

A g e o f Associations

The bookstores are a much older form of student cooperative than
are the associations providing meals and lodging. Of 31 bookstores
for which the year of formation is known, 4 had been in existence since

KIND AND AMOUNT OF BUSINESS

before 1900 and 3 were formed between 1901 and 1920. For the whole
group the average age was 13% years.
Among the lodging associations, the oldest reporting dated only from
1926, and it was not until the middle of the depression that these asso
ciations began to be formed in any number. Of 101 associations re
porting year of formation, 74 had been started since 1936. For the
whole group the average age was just under 4 years.
K in d and A m ount o f Business

Goods and services provided.— Practically all of the cooperatives
dealing in books and students’ supplies carried both new and second
hand books, nearly half also handled fiction, and about one-fourth
sold magazines. Smokers’ supplies, sports goods, and candy were also
among the commodities more commonly handled. Less frequently
these associations had a soda fountain or lunch counter, provided
laundry or dry-cleaning service or shoe repair, and handled stationery,
notions, etc. One of the oldest student-supply associations had
become practically a department store, handling all the articles
common to such a store.
Among the supply associations was one that had widened both its
services and its membership until it was serving the whole com
munity with groceries, books, and such services as shoe repair,
laundry agency, and dry cleaning. Two associations provided free
mail boxes and other post-office service for members.
Generally there is a clear-cut distinction between the book and
supply cooperatives and the cooperative houses. However, as noted,
several bookstores had started a lunch counter or cafeteria and a
few of the rooming houses had started the sale of books and supplies
on a small scale. Among the “ other supplies” associations noted in
the table are cooperatives which do purchasing of supplies for local
fraternities, sororities, and student housing and eating clubs on the
campus.
Most of the book and supply associations extend their services to
nonmembers as well as members. Many of the eating clubs follow
this practice also. The associations providing lodgings generally
serve members only; however, if the association provides meals as
well and if the dining-room facilities permit, it may have nonresident
boarding members and may also serve nonmembers coming in from
outside.
As to accommodations provided, some of the associations had only
a single sleeping room— dormitory style—but provided study quarters
in smaller rooms to each of which several students were assigned.
At the other extreme were associations providing sleeping accommo
dations for several hundred members either in dormitories or in
smaller rooms or both; all of these large associations were operating
more than one house. Generally, among the reporting associations
there were 2 to 4 students per sleeping room.
Only 35 associations reported that they had space for additional
members; these could have accommodated 254 more persons. One

STUDENT COOPERATIVES IN TH E UNITED STATES,

1941

large association had a long waiting list from which new members
were admitted, as vacancies occurred, in order of seniority on the list.4
Amount of business.—A business of $4,674,092 was done in 1941
by the 132 student cooperatives that furnished reports on this point
(table 3). Although the associations handling books and students'
supplies accounted for nearly 74 percent of the total, this is mainly
because of the inclusion of one very large association whose business
formed nearly half of the whole students' supply total. Elimination
of this association would reduce the average sales per association
for the group from $90,998 to $55,071.
T able 3.— B usiness , Earnings, and Patronage Refunds o f Student Cooperatives, 1941

Business or gross income

Commodity or service provided

Num
ber of
asso
ciations
report
ing

Amount

Net earnings
(after subtracting Patronage refunds
losses)

Num
Num
ber of
of
Average ber
asso
asso Amount
per asso ciations Amount ciations
ciation report
report
ing
ing

All types...........................................

132

$4,674,092

$35,410

$230,331

$133,437

Books and students’ supplies..........
Other supplies....... .........................
Rooms and/or meals........................
Loans_____ ____________________
Other................................................

38
3
89
1
1

3,457,925
260,749
919,544
21,941
13,933

90,998
86,916
10,332
21,941
13,933

32
2
55
1
1

201,892
2,187
25,001
695
556

15
3
29

124,151
2,232
6,554

500

Net earnings of $230,779 were reported by 87 associations and
losses aggregating $448 by 4 associations (1 bookstore and 3 living
associations)— a combined “ net" of $230,331 for the 91 associations.
Fifteen associations reported that they just broke even. About 88
percent of the combined net was accounted for by the organizations
selling books and students' supplies. The comparatively low net
earnings shown by the associations providing room and board results
from the practice in a large proportion of associations of setting the
charges at as near cost as possible, so that there is little or no net
margin.
Only 48 associations reported the return of patronage refunds on
the 1941 business. The total returned by these associations amounted
to $133,437. This was largely from the book and students' supply
group, and here, again, over 90 percent from one very large association.
Similar data, by States, are shown in table 4.
4 The situation as thus reported related to conditions in the spring of 1942. As this report is written (in
the spring of 1943) the situation has changed considerably. Instead of having to fihd larger and larger
buildings to accommodate an increasing membership, decreased college enrollments have changed the
problem into one of finding a sufficient membership to keep the houses operating efficiently and to keep
pro rata costs down to a sum which the remaining members can afford. Some associations have already
discontinued operations for the duration of the war.

PRICE POLICIES AND CHARGES

T able 4.— B usiness , Earnings, and Patronage Refunds o f Student Cooperatives,
2941, by States
Business, or gross
income
Num
ber of
asso
ciations
report
ing

State

Amount

Net earnings
(after subtracting
losses)

Patronage
refunds

Num
Num
ber of
ber of
asso Amount asso
ciations
ciations Amount
report
report
ing
ing

Total..................................................................

132

$4,674,092

$230,331

$133,487

Alabama............................................................
Arizona__________________________________
Arkansas____________________ ^___________
California......................................................... ___
f!nlnrad«
Connecticut____ __________________________
District Of Columbia,
,
_ _

1
1
3
15
2
2
1

549
61,000
15,465
476.936
9.526
509,818
265

1
1
2
10
1

87
4,000
336
22,554
400

5,604

ElnrMft
_
_____
Georgia...............................................................
Trifthn . , „ .
.
Illinois...............................................................
Indiana........ .....................................................
Kansas____________________ ______________
Kentucky. _j ____________ ____ ____________

1
2
1
21
4

21,941
19,862
13,500
130,361
63,369

1
2

695
1,834

719

13
4
1

1,079

3,416
886
145

8
3
1
1

1,377
405
145
140

Maryland____________________ ____ _______
Massachusetts...................................................
Michigan............................ ...............................
Minnesota..........................................................
Missouri____ _____________________________
Montana............................................................
Nebraska...........................................................

1
4
10
4
1
2
3

1,100
1,452,040
61,783
29,335
12,500
20,810
14,695

1
3
4
3
1
2
3

1125
133,667
100
250
600
792
1250

116,048

117

2
4

45
183

New Jersey__________________________ ____
New York..........................................................
North Carolina__________ ______ __________
North Dakota........................................... ........
Ohio..... ..............................................................
Oklahoma________________________________
Oregon __________________________________

3
5
1

483,775
218, 111
6,000

2
4

830
25,180

304

9
2
7

319,405
44,700
246,449

1
7

460
4,233

3,435

13,754

Pennsylvania.....................................................
South Dakota........................... .......................
Texas............................ ....................................
Utah...................................................................
Vermont.............................................................
Washington.......................................................
Wisconsin..........................................................

4
1
8
1
1
2
8

29,938
34,216
227,968
650
32,482
79,108
35,356

3
1
4

801
1,038
8,995

2
1
2

861
222
15

1
2
5

1,046
3,531
1,076

i
2
6

928
518
2,287

i Loss.

P rice Policies and Charges

Service at current prices is practiced by a considerable part of the
book and supply cooperatives and by some of the eating clubs. Some
of the bookstores sold books at a specified discount from list prices
but handled other goods at current prices.
The more common practice among the “ living” associations was
either to divide actual running costs among the residents or to set a
fixed rate estimated as sufficient to cover the costs. In the latter
case assessments might be made later, if the estimates proved to be
too low. In the reporting associations the cost of board ranged from
$6 to $30 per month per person, the most common amounts being
$9, $15, $16, and $20. Room rents ranged from $1.50 to $13.67
per month. Some associations allowed the members to cut their
food costs by making contributions of canned or fresh fruit and vege

STUDENT COOPERATIVES IN THE UNITED STATES,

1941

tables brought from home. In certain associations the individual
members are expected to furnish their own bedding and towels (which
are, however, laundered by the association). Considerable equipment
and housefurnishings have been accumulated by the associations
providing rooms or board or both.
Financial Resources

Many of the campus cooperatives are not capital-stock associ
ations but operate with funds derived from membership fees. A
larger proportion of the book and supply associations than of the
rooming associations are capital-stock organizations; nevertheless
in some of the older bookstores the only financial requirement for
membership is a fee of $1 per year. The associations providing board
and room often charge a membership fee, as well as a returnable
deposit levied to cover possible losses from breakage.
In general, more capital is required for the initiation of a supply
association than for one operating a rooming place, but regardless of
amount the raising of sufficient capital is one of the great problems of
these student cooperatives. Some of the bookstore associations had
been assisted in getting started by loans from the college or from
individuals either on the faculty or outside the campus. In most
cases however, such funds as were available had been contributed
by the members in the form of shares, membership certificates, or
refundable deposits. Three associations started without any capi
tal whatever, their first stock of goods consisting of a supply of text
books received on consignment.
Assets of over 2 million dollars were reported by 91 associations
(table 5). The 50 associations which reported as to their share or
membership capital had a combined total of $102,895; members7
equity or net worth (shares, reserves, surplus, and undivided earnings)
amounted to $1,141,929. The large margin of net worth over
capital is explained largely by the surplus and reserves built up over
60 years7 operation by the large association previously mentioned.
T able 5.— A ssets , Capital, and M embers* E quity in Student Cooperatives, 1941
Total assets

Commodities or services provided

Num
ber of
associ
ations
report
ing

Amount

Capital (shares
and memberships)
Num
ber of
associ
ations
report
ing

Amount

Members’ equity
(net worth)
Num
ber of
associ
ations
report
ing

Amount

All types.....................................................

$2,184.481

$102,895

$1,141,929

Books and students’ supplies.....................
Other supplies.......................................... .
Rooms and/or meals...................................
Loans...........................................................
Other...........................................................

29
2
58
1
1

1,818,663
72,110
271,686
18,072
1,950

17
2
28
1
1

58,944
220
26,720
16,723
288

10
2
36
1
1

1,011,385
30,012
81.166
18,072
1,294

Data by States are given in table 6. Next to Massachusetts, the
Florida, Ohio, and Washington associations actually own the largest
proportion of the businesses which they run.

ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT

T able 6.— A ssets , Capital, and M em bers' E quity in Student Cooperatives in 1941,
by States
Total assets
Num
ber of
associ
ations
report
ing

Amounts

Total............................................................

$2,184,481

Alabama......................................................
A r izo n a ........________________________
Arkansas______ _______________________
California.....................................................
Colorado........ .............................................
Florida.........................................................

1
1
2
11
2
1

no"
35,000
2,125
261,702
1,897
18,072

Georgia........................................................
Illinois.........................................................
Indiana.......................................................
Kentucky....................................................
Maryland____________________ ________
Massachusetts.................... .......................

1
19
2
*1
1
2

Michigan.....................................................
Minnesota...___________ _____ _________
Missouri......................................................
Montana.....................................................
Nebraska.....................................................
New J e r s e y ..............................................................
New York...................................................
North Carolina________________________
North Dakota_________________________
Ohio.............................................................
Oklahoma____________________________

State

O re g o n

_ _

. __

Pennsylvania..............................................
South Carolina________________________
South Dakota_________________________
Texas________________________________
Vermont______________________________
Washington___________ _____ _________
Wisconsin....................................................

Capital (shares and
memberships)
Num
ber of
associ
ations
report
ing

Num
ber of
associ
ations
report
ing

Amount

$102,895

$1,141,929

140

2
1
1

3,106
200
16,723

6
2
1

35,474
1,802
18,072

4,855
29,344
4,900
315
250
1,032,482

1
13
1
1

493
5,641
425
200

1
7
2
1

3,509
3,226
2,417
126

52,320

934,384

2
2
1
3
2
2

2,150
3,800
2,400
16,192
5.035
318,147

538

1
1
3

900
80
466

2
1
1
2
2
2

1,681
400
2,000
2,945
1,235
67,926

4
1

78,249
740

160

1
3

1
1

700
491

505
440

35,088

5,936

5,070

6
2
4

79,057
7,100
53,184

12,807

1
6
1
1
5

13.161
150.447
7,079
37.433
4.648

49
—

Amount

Members* equity
(net worth)

3
1
1

2,115
34
600

1
2
5

3,880
11,783
1.900

500

1
2

17.319
1,862

Adm inistration and Management

Directors.— A board of directors or its equivalent was universal
among the associations but in only 1 book and supply association
reporting was the board composed of students only; about one-third
of the cooperative houses were in this class.
A mixed board, composed of students and faculty representatives
(and in some cases including representatives of other interests— a
sponsoring organization, alumni, local townspeople, etc.) was most
commonly found among all the types of student cooperatives. In the
most typical arrangement the students formed a majority. Among
the associations providing board and room the faculty representa
tives were usually elected not by the faculty but by the students; in
many cases faculty representatives served in an advisory capacity
only. In a few cases—more generally among the bookstores— the
faculty members elected their own representatives on the board.
President, secretary, and treasurer commonly serve for a school year.
Other board members and officers may serve during the whole year
or may (especially among the living associations) change every
semester or every 6-9 weeks, in order to give each resident experience
in the various duties.

STUDENT COOPERATIVES IN THE UNITED STATES,

1941

In few cases do the directors receive any compensation for their
work on the board. Among the bookstores one association allows
the directors an extra 5-percent discount on the textbooks they
purchase, and a few of the housing groups allow them meals or meals
and room. One Wisconsin association specifically provides not only
that no director shall receive any recompense for service on the
board, but that no “ pay-receiving employee” shall be eligible for
election to the board.
Committees.—Membership, auditing, and educational committees
are found among all types of student cooperatives. The cooperative
houses usually have social and athletics committees as well, and may
also have a house committee.
Manager.—Managers are always paid workers, receiving all or
part of their wages in cash. They are commonly selected by the
board of directors or by vote of the members on recommendation
by the board. The manager may be one of the members or (espe
cially in the larger associations) a worker hired from outside the
group. Where he is a student, continuity of trained management
becomes a major problem of the cooperative, because of the rapid
turn-over in membership. Some of the associations have tried to
meet the problem by electing an assistant manager, to serve all or
part of a term as an understudy to the manager, succeeding him
in that position when he leaves. Practically all of the reporting
associations hold their elections for the ensuing period toward the
end of the current year or semester.
H O U SE O PER AT IO N

In a typical housing cooperative there are the usual directors and
officers, but the actual business of running the house is the responsi
bility of the manager. As all or most of the work in these student
houses is done by the residents, he is responsible for their direction.
He organizes the work and assigns the various duties to the individual
members. If he does the buying (and therefore the spending of the
club’s funds) he may also act as treasurer; however, this is feasible
only in a small association, because the combined duties in a large
association would be unduly onerous for one student to carry in
addition to his school work.
In the larger associations the manager generally has several assist
ants working under his direction. These usually consist of a purchas
ing agent (who is ordinarily the understudy for the manager), one or
more cooks, and a steward. The latter has charge of the preparation
of the menus and submits to the purchasing agent orders for the
requisite amounts of food and other kitchen supplies; he is responsible
for cleanliness of kitchen and pantries and for the serving of the food.
The cook may be a nonstudent paid employee, or simply a resident
elected to do this work.
Under the direction of these persons the residents clean and pre
pare vegetables and other food, serve it, wait on table, tend the
furnace, make beds, and do the household cleaning and anv other
tasks assigned. These chores may rotate among the members, in
order to prevent any possible inequity in assignments of unpopular
tasks, or may be done throughout a specified period by the same
persons.

COOPERATIVE PRACTICE

Students work part time in many of the cooperative bookstores,
but such service is not required. In most of the rooming associations,
however, work sharing is a condition of continued membership.
The member receives no direct recompense except that by living in
a house run in this way he is enabled to make a marked reduction
in his school expenses. Hours of required work ranged, in the report
ing associations, from 2 to 60 per month; the average was 16. Some
of the associations, however, make provision whereby some or all
of the members can do extra work around the house in return for
all or part of their living. For such work a regular credit is allowed,
ranging in the reporting associations from 20 to 60 cents per hour.
One organization which requires 6 hours’ work per week points
out that, in addition, each member is expected to attend the house
meetings (usually once a week, but at least twice a month) at which
all matters of house policy are thrashed out. “ A complete picture
of life in a student co-op would also include the participation of
many house-members on committees for which they receive no house
work credit.”
Aside from the manager, the cook is most likely to be the only
outside paid employee. However, the larger associations reported
the employment of several full-time paid workers, including not only
cooks, but dieticians and accountants. In some of the associations—
notably those in which there is a considerable amount of college
participation (and control)— a house mother or dining-room hostess
is employed full or part time.
Cooperative Practice A m ong Student Cooperatives
M E M B E R SH IP PR O VISIO N S

Few limitations on membership were found among the bookstore
associations in comparison with the room-and-board cooperatives.
In a good many of the bookstores any person on the campus is
admitted more or less automatically. The rooming-house associa
tions naturally exercise some selection in order to insure a house
population that will be congenial. Some of the cooperatives pro
vide for a trial period after admission, during which the other resi
dents can judge whether the new member will fit into the group.
Membership limitations based on sex are, of course, general; usually
only the associations operating several houses accept both sexes.
Among the common criteria upon which membership applications
are decided in the associations providing rooms or meals is the finan
cial status of the applicant. As the main purpose of a large propor
tion of these associations is to assist students of limited financial
means to continue in school, many of them accept only members
in this category. Attainment (and maintenance) of a specified
scholastic level is another usual requirement and some associations
provide for expulsion if a member’s grades fall below a specified mark.
Character and good habits were requirements in some cases, but
racial bars were reported in only 7 organizations; all of these accepted
only white students and one of them excluded Jewish students. On
the other hand, a large proportion of the associations specifically
provide that there shall be no exclusions on the basis of race, religion,
or political affiliation; in fact several associations were formed to
524053°— 43----- 3

STUDENT COOPERATIVES IN THE UNITED STATES,

1941

counteract existing local prejudices in this respect. A New York
association counted among its residents students from Algeria,
Austria, British Guiana, Canada, China, India, Italy, Panama, and
Russia. In one Michigan cooperative house members of eight
denominations were living. Some of the eating clubs and living
associations are primarily of one religious denomination but this is
the result of the natural gravitation of persons of like beliefs, not of
policies of exclusion by the associations.
Whereas in the bookstores there are almost no exclusions from
membership, many of the living organizations depart from Rochdale
practice in this respect. Most of them require adverse votes ranging
from 51 to 100 percent of the members in order to bar an applicant,
but in five reporting associations one negative vote and in one associa
tion five such votes were sufficient for rejection.
Voting.—The principle of “ one member, one vote” appears to be
almost universal among the reporting associations, irrespective of
type, as was also the prohibiting of vote by proxy. Just one associa
tion (a bookstore organization), otherwise cooperative, allowed one
vote per share; as the maximum number of shares allowed per mem
ber was 5, this meant that in practice the number of votes per
member ranged from 1 to 5.
M EM BERSH IP P A RTIC IPA TIO N AN D CONTROL

Largely because of the differences in the nature of the business done
and the method of operation, the associations providing meals and'
rooms are in general considerably more successful than the bookstores
in obtaining active student interest. It is axiomatic that the more
actively the members participate in carrying on the association, the
more interested they are in its success. Most of the bookstore
associations were formed long before the present student membership
entered college and their policies have pretty well crystalized; thus,
given an efficient manager, they run without the necessity of much
activity on the part of the student members. Also, faculty members
always constitute a considerable part of the board of directors in the
bookstores and undoubtedly whatever guidance is needed in running
the business is expected from them rather than from the students.
Furthermore, under the form of government under which some of the
older bookstore associations operate, the student participation provided
for is only nominal.
The lodging associations, on the other hand, are young and strug
gling and, as they are for the most part composed of students with small
resources, must have the active participation of every member if they
are to survive at all. Their policies and practices are still in process of
formulation—largely by trial and error—and it generally requires
the combined mental and physical efforts of the members to meet the
problems that arise from day to day.
Generally speaking, actual and effective membership control is far
more pronounced in the living associations than in the bookstores.
The conduct of a cooperative house is something that touches the
member in nearly every aspect of his everyday life, whereas the book
store represents only a small part of his budget and is apt to be con
sidered as a thing apart, only remotely affecting him; therefore as
long as it appears to be running smoothly he is likely to take little
active interest in its operation.

COOPERATIVE PRACTICE

Poor attendance at membership meetings is a common complaint
of book and supply associations. The cooperative houses often hold
their meetings at the lunch hour and in such cases quite generally
report that meetings are well attended. It is noticeable, also, that
whereas the bookstore associations provide for one or not more than
two membership meetings a year, the housing cooperatives hold them
much oftener—once a month or even once a week. The fact that the
members in a cooperative house are close at hand and do not have to
assemble from scattered places aids in the ease with which meetings
can be held.
P A T R O N A G E R EF UN D S

Refunds on patronage seem to be a fairly general practice among
the associations, except where operation is on a cost or cost-plus basis.
This latter qualification of course applies to a large proportion of the
student-operated houses and eating clubs. Further, many of the
book and supply associations make a practice of retaining in the busi
ness all or a large part of the year’s earnings; in some of these the oper
ating capital has been largely built up in this way. Some of the room
ing associations use any net surplus at the end of the year for the pur
chase of new equipment or furnishings.
B Y L A W S OF ST U D E N T C O O PER ATIVES

Of the 103 student living associations that reported the manner of
adoption of bylaws, only 7 stated that these were not voted into effect
by the members. None of these 7 reports indicated the source of the
bylaws, but probably they emanated from the educational institution
itself. Altogether 33 book and supply associations reported as to the
method of adoption of bylaws. In 24 (about 73 percent) they had
been adopted by vote of the members. In the remainder it was re
ported that they had not been so voted; however, as the bookstores are
among the older organizations and as the entire membership changes
during every 4-year period, it is probable that this simply meant that
the bylaws had not been voted upon by the present membership but
had been inherited from previous years.
The bylaws of some of the older bookstores leave something to be
desired, from the cooperative viewpoint, and some of them need
revision. Also, partly because some of them were formed long before
the enactment of the State cooperative law (or are in States which
still have no such law) and partly in order to insure continuity of oper
ation in spite of a rapidly shifting membership, a few place more power
in the hands of the faculty than in those of the student members.
Harvard Cooperative Society,5 the oldest of the college cooperative
bookstores, has a rather complicated arrangement of the trusteeship
type under a constitution described as “ a model of obscurity.” The
organization actually consists of two bodies by the same name— one an
unincorporated association, the other an incorporated company.
Any officer, student, or “ past member” of Harvard University, Radcliffe College, or the Episcopal Theological school can become a
participating member upon payment of a fee of $1. These members
constitute the unincorporated society. However, only those who are
officers or students in Harvard University are entitled to vote. The
* All data in this description of the society are from Harvard Cooperative Society, Past and Present,
1887-1942, by N. S. B. Gras, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, 1942.

STUDENT COOPERATIVES IN TH E UNITED STATES.,

1941

actual business is carried on by the incorporated company, the $50,000
capital stock of which is held by 10 “ stockholders” (actually trustees).
When the association was reorganized, in 1903, these stockholders
(then 5 in number) were chosen by the general membership. Since
then they have been a self-perpetuating group, co-optirig their mem
bers for 5-year terms from the students, faculty, and alumni of the
various colleges of the university. In theory the participating mem
bers can nominate and elect these directors. In practice the stock
holders do so, for the reason that nomination requires petition by 25
participants and election requires a majority vote at a meeting at
which 10 percent of all participating members are present and voting.
In 1941-42, this would have required an assembly of at least 614
participating members, all voting. Members’ apatny is explained by
the complex machinery involved, by the lack of cooperative under
standing among the members, and by the eminent business success of
the present arrangement. Through nomination, then, the stock
holders control the selection of the board of directors and officers;
however, they cannot themselves serve in these places. The whole
organization is described as “ an instrument of business in which one
body checks another and in which there is a residual ownership but
no man can find the owners.”
In contrast to the Harvard association, is the University of Texas
Cooperative Society, started in 1896, whose bylaws provide for a non
stock association, $1 membership fee, a single vote for each member,
and a board of directors elected by the members and consisting of the
president of the university, three faculty members (one elected each
year) serving 3-year terms, and four student members serving 1-year
terms. All of its clerks are students.
E D U C A T IO N A L W O R K

As to educational work, 41 cooperative living associations reported
that they had among the members one or more cooperative study or
discussion groups which met regularly. These associations had a
total of 81 such groups. A periodic, definite appropriation from
earnings, to be used for educational work in cooperation, was reported
by 32 associations. Of these latter associations one reported that 5
percent of the net earnings and all of the $1 membership fee was used
for educational work and another appropriated 3 percent of earnings
for this purpose. Some of the cooperative houses have a regular
schedule of speakers on cooperation and other subjects.
Comparatively few of the bookstores, especially of the older as
sociations, manifest any awareness of the social implications of their
enterprise or do any educational work along cooperative lines. Only
7 had any study or discussion groups going on (1 each), and 10 made
some regular appropriation for educational work. Only 1 bookstore
reported as to amount used for this purpose; that association set aside
a sum equal to 1 percent of net sales.
Em ploym ent and W ages in Student Cooperatives

Nearly $563,000 was paid in cash wages in 1941 by student co
operatives, in addition to wages in kind (board or room or b oth ).
The 109 associations that reported employment of full-time workers
had a total of 431 such employees, and 97 associations employed a
total of 1,125 part-time workers to whom cash wages were paid. The

PROBLEMS OF COOPERATIVE®

bookstores were more likely to have paid employees than the cooper
ative houses, and to have a larger number of such employees.
As already noted, in the associations providing rooms or meals or
both, much or all of the work is done by the members themselves.
In many, even the cook is elected from among the residents of the
house, in which case this person, even though he may be paid partly
in cash, is only a part-time worker. Among the 95 associations which
reported paid full-time employees and which specified the jobs they
performed, these workers always included a cook (or house mother
or matron who also did the cooking). These 95 associations included
47 associations with 1 employee (cook or house mother), 25 associa
tions which had 2 employees (cook and house mother or manager,
2 cooks, or cook and houseboy or helper), 8 which had 3 employees,
and 4 which had more than 3 full-time paid workers. Among this
last group one large organization had an accountant as well as 3 cooks,
another had 3 cooks and a general manager, and a third had a cook,
a dietitian, 2 house mothers, and a general manager. The paid labor
force of the various types of student cooperatives in 1941 is shown in
table 7.
T able 7.— Em ployees and W ages in Student Cooperatives, 1941
Employees
Part-time

Full-time
Goods or services provided

Cash wages paid

Number
of asso Amount
Number
Number
ciations
of asso
of asso
ciations Number ciations Number reporting
reporting
reporting

All types....................................................-

109

431

1,125

114

$562,847

Book and students* supplies......................
Other supplies........ .................... - ............
Rooms and/or meals...................................
Other------- ------------------------------------------

11
2
95
1

230
4
196
1

23
3
70
1

101
7
1,015
2

20
3
90
1

387,937
6,810
166,783
1,317

Problems o f Cooperatives

Each association was asked to report its major problems. Among
those common to both the bookstores and the housing associations
were (1) insufficient space in present quarters and the difficulty of
obtaining suitable quarters elsewhere near the campus; (2) insufficient
capital, for operation at present level or for needed expansion, (3)
obtaining efficient management, (4) obtaining continuity of manage
ment and administration, (5) obtaining efficient paid nonstudent
labor, (6) a student body (and therefore membership) too small to
provide a volume of business large enough for profitable or efficient
operation, (7) loss of members to war service, (8) extension of credit,
and difficulties in collection of accounts, (9) success of organization
dependent on a very small group of members, (10) lack of interest
in the association, among the membership and/or among the students,
and (11) obtaining a really effective program for inculcating the coop
erative philosophy and viewpoint on the campus.
Problems reported only by the book and supply associations were
(1) too high operating costs in proportion to volume, (2) getting funds
to pay bills in time to obtain discount, and (3) obtaining stocks of goods.

STUDENT COOPERATIVES IN THE UNITED STATES-,

1941

The greatest problems peculiar to the rooming and boarding asso
ciations were (1) maintenance of house capacity, and consequently, of
low pro rata costs, (2) rents for suitable quarters too high, (3) rising
costs of food, (4) getting sufficient variety and balanced diet in lowcost meals, (5) maintaining decent living standards on what the mem
bers can afford to pay, (6) inability to estimate costs, in view of rapid
membership turn-over and rising or fluctuating prices; and (7) getting
the residents to cooperate fully in the duties of the house.
Aside from the practical problems connected with the actual carry
ing out of the enterprise, the lack of education in cooperation appears
to be at the root of the difficulties experienced by a large proportion
of the associations. All types of associations report that most of
their members join in order to reduce school expenses rather than be
cause of any knowledge of or interest in the cooperative movement.
Some of the students may be of the irresponsible type or may not ha ve
reached the stage of interest in social questions. Although, as one
writer noted, “ the financial nonchalance of many college students fre
quently changes to penny discrimination” 6 after a sojourn in a coop
erative house, their interest may still be financial only, with no con
ception of the wider aspects of the association’s activities. Further,
in view of the many calls upon the individual student’s time— especi
ally if he is living in a cooperative house and sharing the work there,
carrying his school subjects, and possibly earning part of his expenses
by outside jobs— any activity necessitating the expenditure of further
effort is likely to be neglected. And this appears to be the case re
garding cooperative educational efforts in a very large segment of
the student cooperative movement. Many of the associations have
regular educational committees and some carry on sustained educa
tional work, but these are decidedly in the minority. This, however,
is not surprising, in view of the relative youth of the campus coopera
tive movement.
Relations W ith Other Cooperatives

Such relations with other cooperatives as are maintained are gener
ally carried on by the housing cooperatives rather than by the book
stores. The study disclosed that some of the latter were affiliated
with the National Association of College Bookstores, not a coopera
tive organization. A very few were buying some books— generally
not textbooks—from the Consumers’ Book Cooperative in New York
City. In contrast, there is a well-defined trend on the part of the
housing cooperatives toward affiliation not only with student federa
tions of cooperatives, but also with federations in the consumers’
cooperative movement proper.
Affiliation with student cooperatives.— In at least five universities
(Chicago, Michigan, Missouri, Texas, and Wisconsin), where a num
ber of student living organizations exist, intercooperative councils
have been formed for educational purposes, exchange of experience,
and working out mutual problems, or for undertaking specific services
such as joint purchasing, making contracts for supplies or services,
etc. To these some or all of the local campus cooperatives are affiliated.
At the University of Michigan the Inter-Cooperative Council,
formed in 1937, serves a variety of purposes. It is a policy-making
e Fred E. Luchs in The Social Frontier (New York), April 1938, quoted in The Cooperative Consumer
(North Kansas City), May 23,1938.

RELATIONS W IT H OTHER COOPERATIVES

body, with standing committees on purchasing, personnel, education,
accounting, and social and athletic affairs, as well as special commit
tees formed from time to time to deal with specific problems or situa
tions. Each committee is composed of the members of the corres
ponding committee of the member associations. Thus the purchasing
committee deals with the large-scale purchasing of staple articles
used in all of the houses, such as coal, soap, canned goods, sugar,
household linen, milk, etc., and according to report has been able to
make “ substantial savings.” The personnel committee handles all
applications for membership in the member houses, conducts the
interviews, and assigns the applicants to the various associations on
the basis of the needs of the applicant and of the houses. It is said
that this method eliminates undesirable competition for members
by the associations and tends to equalize membership on the basis
of house capacity. The social committee arranges intercooperative
dinners, dances, and other parties as well as the annual picnic. The
accounting committee assists the member associations in the book
keeping policies and also supervises a loan fund from which noninterest-bearing loans are made to member houses; this fund is made
up of money from surpluses from the older and more prosperous
associations, mainly for the purpose of aiding new associations to get
started.
At the University of Texas a representative from each cooperative
house serves on a central council, one of whose duties is to obtain
bids from local suppliers and place orders for all the cooperatives. In
Montana State College, there is no formal federation of cooperative
houses, but orders are pooled and supplies bought together by the
associations.
On several campuses the fraternities have a joint buying coopera
tive through which some of the housing cooperatives do their buying.
Some of the student associations are affiliated with the regional
student educational leagues, of which there are three: The Pacific
Coast Student Cooperative League, the Midwest Federation of
Student Cooperatives, and the Central League of Campus Co-ops.
The Midwest Federation, dating from 1939, was the first regional
league of student cooperatives to be formed. Its territory covers
Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The Pacific
Coast Student Cooperative League traces its beginning to a conference
held in March 1940. Its membership is drawn from universities and
colleges in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana.7
In November 1940 the Central League of Campus Co-ops was formed
with a territory covering 13 Central States. Its present membership
consists of educational institutions in Missouri, Kansas, Texas, Iowa,
and North Dakota.
These regional bodies are all loose federations of local cooperatives
and are, in turn, affiliated with the National Committee on Student
Cooperatives formed in 1935 as an aftermath of the Student Volunteer
Convention of that year. The Committee has been carried on largely
as the result of the efforts of Mr. William Moore.
Affiliation with cooperatives serving the general consumers’ cooperative
movement.—Apparently, relations between the student cooperatives
and the general consumers’ cooperative movement are still com
paratively meager. This is probably due to the fact that students
7 This league has been admitted to membership in the Cooperative League of the U. S. A.—national edu
cational body of the consumers’ cooperative movement.

STUDENT COOPERATIVES IN TH E UNITED STATES,

1941

join cooperatives quite largely through economic necessity rather
than from any awareness of cooperative philosophy or acceptance of
it. A certain proportion of the student cooperative membership
understands and is familiar with what is going on in the general con
sumers7 cooperative movement and wishes to bring about closer rela
tions with that movement. It is undoubtedly this segment of the
student cooperative movement that is responsible for the group of
associations reported as affiliated to general regional and other con
sumers7 cooperative organizations.
Generally the campus cooperatives that had manifested their
cooperative awareness by affiliation with the regional student leagues
were also those that had joined general cooperative federations.
Some of the consumers7 cooperative wholesales are endeavoring to
foster relations with the student cooperatives and are making available
to them their services in the bookkeeping, legal, and educational fields.
Advantages o f Student Cooperatives

Individual student cooperatives may or may not be meeting their
individual problems successfully. Nevertheless, in every association,
participation in the activities— especially in the varied experience con
nected with the operation of a cooperative house— offers values to the
member. The most obvious, of course, is the economic advantage
of enabling the members to make the most of their scanty funds and
thus continue their education. Some of the other advantages, both
practical and intangible, are noted below:
1. The cooperative houses provide practical training in household
operation and management and in all the collateral activities. The
residents learn food values and food combinations, and how to plan
and cook meals and do canning and preserving. Not only do the
students carry out all of the ordinary household tasks of food prepara
tion and service, dishwashing, cleaning of rooms, making beds,
tending furnace, etc., but they also do the odd jobs of repair of furni
ture, appliances, and other household equipment. In many cases
they have actually made much of the furniture and equipment. All
o f these activities give all-round self-reliance and practical skills
which are utilized even while they are at school by the students
who must do paid work outside tne cooperative house, in order to
earn part of their expenses; and they form valuable experience for
afterlife.
2. The cpoperative houses provide business training. By serving
in the various capacities required in running the enterprise the mem
bers learn thrift and how to handle not only their own money, but that
of the association, to the best advantage; how to make various kinds
of business contracts; how to purchase food and other supplies eco
nomically; how to organize the work for the most economical expendi
ture of time and energy; how to direct other persons; how to draw up
reports; and the basic principles of bookkeeping and cost account
ing. The necessity of obtaining the utmost values from their meager
funds and of meeting the constantly arising problems and emer
gencies tend to develop ingenuity and resourcefulness.
3. The students get experience in their contacts with other people.
They learn how to conduct meetings and present reports to the
membership, the elements of parliamentary procedure, and gain the

BOOK AND SUPPLY COOPERATIVES

ability to marshall their arguments and express their thoughts to
other people in the give-and-take of the house meetings.
4. The cooperative houses promote high scholastic ambitions,
by setting high standards of accomplishments not only in order to
obtain entrance but in order to remain as a resident.
5. Knowledge of and experience in all these activities tends to
develop a spirit of independence, resourcefulness, and self-help that
will be invaluable to the members later in their lifetime business and
social activities.
6. The close, intimate, day-to-day contacts entailed in living with
10 to 30 or more other students, each with his own ideas, prejudices,
and opinions, tend to make the individual adaptable and to develop
in him a spirit of give and take and of mutual tolerance. Further,
altruism develops, because all the residents’ interests are bound up
together in the success or failure of the enterprise. The community
of interests and the fellowship thus enjoyed during the students’
university career lead to lasting friendships.
7. Finally, cooperative houses provide a practical lesson in democ
racy and training for the full citizenship which the students will
enter upon their graduation. This is well described by a statement
from one university, as follows: “ We emerge as citizens of a demo
cratic state. We enter into citizenship, having already practiced
democracy, having already used the democratic tools. We in the
co-ops know what democracy is, because we have lived it and
breathed it. We are aware o f it faults, we know its shortcomings.
But we also know that democracy’s advantages more than offset its
imperfections.” 8
B O O K A N D S U P P L Y C O O P E R A T IV E S
Financial Structure

Original capital.— Among the associations reporting, the entire
capital was raised, in slightly over 50 percent of the cases, entirely by
the members, in the form of shares, membership certificates, or re
fundable deposits. In one association the members raised 90 percent,
the remaining 10 percent coming from other undesignated sources.
In another organization the members provided 80 percent, and 20
percent was contributed by others. Earnings from the association’s
sport events and from its refreshment stand produced 25 percent of
the necessary capital in a third book and supply association, with the
members’ shares and certificates accounting for 75 percent. Half
was raised by the members and half came from unspecified sources in
one association. Only 10 percent was raised by the members in two
associations, the other 90 percent being oans from the faculty in one
case and a loan from the college n the other. In one case all of the
original capita was borrowed from the earnings of the association’s
other activities. Three. associations reported that they had had no
capital to start with, as their first business consisted only of the sale
of books which they had received on consignment.
Contributions from individuals (not members) formed the entire
original capital of one organization, and in another the whole amount
8 Cooperatives at the University of Michigan, p. 2.
524053°— 43------- 4

STUDENT COOPERATIVES IN THE UNITED STATES,

1941

was provided by the first manager. The college donated the funds
in a third case. Loans from the faculty provided the entire capital in
one association and 40 percent of it in another; in the second associa
tion the other 60 percent was borrowed from undesignated sources.
Entrance and membership fees.—Few of the associations handling
books and students’ supplies charge fees of any kind. Of 40 reporting
associations, only 9 levied an initiation fee; these ranged from 25
cents (3 associations) to $10 (1 association). A membership fee of $1
was charged by 4 associations. One association made a charge of $1
per month for membership, 3 charged $1 per year, and in 1 association
a life membership cost $2.50.
A larger proportion of the bookstores than of the boarding associa
tions were capital-stock organizations. The shares of the 14 book
stores so capitalized ranged in value from 25 cents to $10. The most
common amounts were $1 (3 associations) and $5 (3 associations).
M em bership Requirements

Altogether, 29 of the 40 reporting associations replied regarding
membership requirements. Of these 6 had no limitation whatever,
in 6 associations only students could become members, and in 7 both
students and faculty were eligible; in 6, students, faculty, and college
employees; and in 1 association, students, faculty, and alumni. One
association was run by and for married students only and 1 was
restricted to agricultural students. One association admitted only
persons who are “ in sympathy with the cooperative movement.”
In most of the students’ cooperative bookstores membership is more
or less automatic, any student being eligible. In 5 associations, how
ever, applications were passed upon by the whole membership, in 5 by
the board of directors, and in 1 by board and members together.
In 2 associations a majority vote wTas necessary in order to bar an
applicant from membership and in 2 others a two-thirds vote. The
remaining associations did not report on this point.
Adm inistration and Management

Board of directors.—Of 25 supply associations reporting, in 1 asso
ciation the board consisted of four students. In 19 associations the
board consisted of both student and faculty representatives, students
being in the majority in 11 cases, equally represented in 2, and in a
minority in 5; in the remaining association the faculty was represented
in an advisory capacity only. In 5 associations not only students but
others (alumni, local people, etc.) were represented, the students being
in a majority in 1 and in a minority in 4.
Of 23 associations reporting, the board was selected by students
only in 10, by students and faculty in 10, by all the members (students,
faculty, and school employees) in 1, by the faculty alone in 1, and by
the sponsoring organization in 1.
Few of the board members receive any compensation (except pos
sibly a small fee) for their labor. In one association, however, direc
tors are allowed an additional 5-percent discount on books purchased
by them from the store.
Manager.—In 18 (62 percent) of the reporting associations,%the
manager was hired by the board of directors, in 6 (20 percent) by the

BOOK AND SUPPLY COOPERATIVES

entire membership, and in 1 each by the faculty members, by the fac
ulty advisory board, by the university or one of its representatives,
and by the faculty and students jointly.
Two associations insure continuity of trained management by
electing each year an understudy or assistant to the manager, who
becomes manager in the ensuing year.
Goods Handled

Practically all of the cooperatives dealing in books and students’
supplies carried both new and second-hand books. About 45 percent
of those reporting handled fiction, and slightly over one-fourth handled
magazines. One association in a theological college made a practice
of obtaining the new books on religion. Nearly 30 percent provided
smokers’ supplies, and almost a third carried sports goods. Less
than a fifth had a soda fountain, but practically half carried candy.
Several associations furnished lunches or sandwiches, and soft drinks,
and one association operated a cafeteria in connection with the book
store. A few provided laundry, dry-cleaning, and shoe-repair service.
Among the other commodities or services, each provided by only a
few associations, were stationery, gift articles, dry goods and notions,
newspapers, men’s shirts, flowers, kodak films, and cosmetics.
Some of the larger and older associations provided all of the abovementioned goods and services, as well as numerous others. Thus, the
bookstore in one of the oldest universities in the country also handled
dry goods, drugs, luggage, and shoes. Another carried custom and
ready-to-wear clothing, men’s furnishings, household supplies, furni
ture, electrical appliances, toys, and gasoline and oil.
Two associations provided a free post-office service, with individual
mail boxes.
One association which began as strictly a student organization had
widened its field to accept community residents as members. It not
only carried books and student supplies but also provided laundry,
dry-cleaning, and shoe-repair service.
One “ book exchange” reported that the sellers set their own prices.
When a book was sold the association deducted a fee, to cover cost of
handling, fixed in proportion to the price. The fee was 5 cents for
books priced up to $1.50; 10 cents for those from $1.50 to $4.00; and
15 cents for those over $4.00.
Two small supply cooperatives which did not handle either books
or school supplies, carried candy; one also carried Cosmetics and food
stuffs, and the other carried cigarettes and cigars. Another in this
category handled candy, soft drinks, cakes, and sandwiches. A fourth,
which although operating in a college group, had no restrictions on
membership and handled books on consignment only, carried grocer
ies, electrical appliances, household supplies, and cosmetics; it pro
vided hospitalization on group contract, had a cooperative study club,
and had made a contract arrangement with a private dealer wnereby
the members obtained gasoline at a discount.
Quite a few of the rooming and boarding associations also were
carrying small stocks of various kinds of goods for sale to the mem
bers, such as magazines, newspapers, tobacco products, and some
textbooks and school supplies.

STUDENT COOPERATIVES IN TH E UNITED STATES,

1941

Nearly 45 percent of the associations reporting, which carried second
hand books, bought them outright. About 18 percent handled them
on consignment only, and a similar proportion operated on both
bases— outright purchase and consignment. Some 45 percent reported
that they did not deal in second-hand books at all.
P rice and Credit P olicy

Reporting as to their price policy over half stated that they sold
at the same prices as their competitors, about one-fourth added a
mark-up estimated as sufficient to cover expenses. About 35 percent
sold their books at a discount of 5-10 percent from list prices, and in
some of these the discount was given at the time the purchase was
made. Others followed the Rochdale practice of making patronage
refunds only at the end of the accounting period.
Altogether, 39 of the 40 book and supply associations reported as
to their credit policies. Of these, 15 extended credit to all members,
2 extended limited credit, 1 gave credit to faculty members only, and
21 operated on a strictly cash basis.
Six associations gave credit to nonmembers as well as members,
but one of these only if the purchaser was on the faculty. Twentyfive book stores required cash from nonmembers.
Services to Nonmembers

Of 28 associations reporting, all but 5 stated that their services are
available to nonmembers as well as members.
Disposal of N et Income

Interest on share capital.— Among the bookstores six make a
practice of paying interest on share capital; of these, the maximum in
one was set at 1 percent, in two at 4 percent, in two at 6 percent, and
in one at 20 percent. All of these paid interest at their maximum
rate in 1941, except that association with a 1-percent maximum, which
paid no interest that year. Two other associations which did not
report their maximum paid 5 and 8 percent, respectively.
There were 24 associations which reported that they do not pay
interest on shares.
Disposal of remainder of net income.—Of 35 associations reporting
as to what disposition they made of net earnings, 10 placed the whole
amount, and one 90 percent of it, in the reserves. The total net
earnings were returned to the members in patronage refunds by 19
and to the members on their shares by 3. The other 2 donated their
earnings to an unnamed cause. As already noted, a few bookstore
associations, instead of paying patronage refunds at the end of the
accounting period, allow a discount at time of purchase.
Six bookstores paid patronage refunds on nonmembers’ as well as
members’ purchases, but 2 of these applied the money on the purchase
of a membership share. The other 23 associations reporting on this
point did not pay refunds to nonmembers.

ASSOCIATIONS PROVIDING ROOM AND BOARD

M a jor Problems

To the question, what were the association’s major problems, the
following answers were received from the organizations handling
books and students’ supplies.
Lack of good location.
Insufficient operating and/or storage space.
Obtaining sufficient capital.
Selection and training of student managers.
Obtaining efficient manager.
Obtaining full-time manager with cooperative training.
Difficulty in obtaining continuity in management because of turn-over in
student body.
Obtaining trained workers.
Student body and membership too small for efficient operation.
Operating margins insufficient to keep out of the red.
Labor cost too high in proportion to sales because of necessity of using
part-time student workers.
Expanding volume sufficiently to permit paid labor and removal to better
location.
Proper ordering and return of textbooks.
Getting bills paid on time.
Prompt collection of accounts receivable.
Obtaining merchandise.
Inculcating understanding of cooperative philosophy in the membership
and the reasons for paying patronage refunds to nonmembers.
Getting an effective education program.
Success dependent on one or two people.
Difficulty in expanding number of interested workers and leaders.
Lack of time which members can devote to enterprise.
Getting the girls as interested as the boys are in the association.
Insufficient faculty advice.
Effect of draft on association.

Three associations reported that they had no major problems and
one added “ association is satisfactory in every respect.”
On the other hand, one association was so discouraged it had voted
to dissolve. It had been struggling with an enterprise in a very small
student body, situated in a poor location in premises which did not
afford sufficient space either for operations or for storage of goods.
The report from the association stated that very little advice or interest
had been forthcoming from the faculty and the operation of the busi
ness had depended almost entirely on the efforts of one or two members.
A S S O C IA T IO N S P R O V ID IN G R O O M S O R B O A R D
OR B O T H
Financial Structure

Of 111 rooming and boarding houses from which reports were
received, only 33 required an initiation fee; this ranged from $1 to
$20, with $5 being the most usual amount. That some of the associa
tions depended on this fee for a good share of their operating funds is
indicated by the fact that in 13 of the 43 associations the fee was $10
or more. Probably in most cases, this was really a membership fee.
Ten associations which had no initiation fee required the payment
of a returnable deposit ranging from $5 to $25. In several cases it
was stated that the purpose of this fee was to cover any breakage or
other damage to equipment that might be attributable to the member
during the year. In a Kansas association which required a $20

STUDENT COOPERATIVES IN THE UNITED STATES,

1941

deposit upon acceptance into membership, it was provided that $5
of this should be used each year to purchase “ furniture and equipment
of a relatively permanent nature.” A person who had been an
active member less than 4 years at the time of his withdrawal from
membership would be refunded the $20 minus $5 for every year of
membership. A Texas association required each member to deposit
$20, representing his share of cost of the furniture owned by the
association; this was returned upon his graduation or withdrawal,
minus cost of any breakage.
Only four associations reported the use of membership certificates
(of $5 or $10) and only 16 of the rooming and boarding associations
were capital-stock associations. Among these 16 associations the
value of the share ranged frofh 10 cents (in an elementary-school
cooperative) to $20; the most common values were $5 and $10.
Of these rooming and boarding associations about a third levied
an annual fee, which in some cases, it was evident, represented the
year's rent or cost of both board and room. In these associations
the fees ran from $90 to $250. In the group for which the annual fee
represented simply another form of membership fee from which a
small supplementary income was drawn, the amounts ranged from
25 cents to $45. One New York association's capital had been built
up from $5 membership fees and its consistent practice of retaining 5
percent of net earnings each year as “ indivisible property” of the club *
M em bership Provisions

In half of the reporting associations membership applications were
passed upon by the entire membership, and in nearly a fourth by the
board of directors. In the remainder various methods were used:
Membership and board jointly, membership committee, board of
sponsors, members and faculty, etc.
As in most of these associations the membership consists of the
residents of a single house, the presence of congenial persons is impor
tant and therefore membership requirements are likely to be more
strict than would be the case in a supply cooperative, for instance.
In five associations one adverse vote was sufficient to bar an applicant,
and in another association five votes. Altogether, in about 15 percent
of the reporting associations an adverse vote of 50 percent or less
would prevent the admission of a new member. However, the largest
group, forming about 30 percent of the reporting associations, re
quired a majority vote in order to exclude. Other associations
required unfavorable votes from 60, 66%, and 75 percent of the voters,
and in four associations a unanimous adverse vote was required.
One association accepted any student, until the house was filled.
Membership limitations.— By far the largest proportion (nearly 90
percent) of the students' rooming and boarding houses were run by
and for male students only. Seven of the reporting associations
accepted women only. The six associations admitting students of
both sexes ran one or more houses each, some for women only and
some for men only. In addition to students, six associations admitted
to membership members of the faculty, one admitted college em
ployees, and two admitted both faculty and college employees. In
three associations noncampus persons were also accepted.
Six associations were open only to students of small means (and one
of these required also that they be approved by the sponsor of the

ASSOCIATIONS PROVIDING ROOM AND BOARD

association), 11 others required the attainment of a specified level
of scholarship, and 5 had both financial and scholarship conditions.
Another association imposed financial and scholastic conditions and
also required that the student be majoring in agriculture. Three as
sociations were open only to students enrolled in a specified college or
courses, and 3 only to postgraduate students.
One association, which accepted only students of limited means, also
specified that they must neither smoke nor drink. One association
had no special requirements -except that they be “ good workers and
decent fellows,” and another stated that applicants must be persons
of good character and habits. A Kansas association required that
applicants have read certain pamphlets on cooperative principles, and
a Wisconsin organization required that the applicant “ pass an
examination on the cooperative movement.”
Only 4-H Club members of small means were admitted into one
association, and only married student ministers having their families
with them were eligible for membership in another.
An Arizona association barred from membership any student who
was a member of a social fraternity and provided for expulsion if he
joined a fraternity after becoming a member of the cooperative.
Race was reported to be a consideration in seven associations,
six of which specified that members must be white. The seventh
specified that members must be “ of the Caucasian race and non-Semitic.”
In some cases, although there were no membership restrictions,
congeniality and religious background more or less determined the
membership. Thus, at one large State university there were several
“ eating clubs” the membership of each of which consisted mainly of
students of a specific religious denomination, as Baptist, Catholic,
Methodist, and Congregational. Several of these, however, provided
in their bylaws that no person should be excluded from membership
“ because of his race, religion, or political creed.”
Classes of membership.—An occasional association provided for
more than one class of members. Generally there were two, designated
as active and associate. In all cases the active members were full
members living in the house or participating in the association’s
activities, and entitled to vote. In several associations the associate
members were persons on probation for a specified period (generally
6 or 9 weeks) before being admitted to full membership. The purpose
was, of course, to enable the other members to judge whether they
would be compatible. In other cases the associate members were
alumni who had been active members while in college; such members
were generally accorded patronage and other rights but not the voting
privilege.
Withdrawal and expulsion.—Commonly, withdrawal from member
ship in a cooperative house was allowed only after a specified period
of notice or at the end of a semester, except in case of emergency.
Members could be expelled for various causes—refusal or failure to
perform assigned duties, failure to meet expenses when due, etc. In
some cases, however, vote by the board to expel could be appealed
to a general membership meeting.
Adm inistration and Management

Board of directors.—About three-fourths of the associations reported
as to the administrative machinery. In 38 organizations the board

STUDENT COOPERATIVES IN THE UNITED STATES,

1941

of directors was composed of students only, the number ranging
from 2 to 15. In an additional association, all the members in the
house acted as a board.
In 25 cases there was a mixed board, composed of faculty and stu
dents, in 19 of which the student members of the board were in the
majority, in 1 there was equal representation, and in 6 the faculty
representatives served only in an advisory capacity. In only 1
association were the faculty members a majority. In 11 associations
the board contained not omy faculty and students but representatives
of other groups; in 4 of these the students were a majority, in 5 a
minority, and in the 2 remaining cases the “ others” were present
only as advisors. Among the other groups represented were the
alumni, college Y. M. C. A., sponsoring organization, community
residents, business and professional people, ministers, and board of
trustees of the college; in several cases the house mother and in one
case the association's business manager were members of the board
of directors. In one Ohio association there was an advisory board
consisting of representatives from cooperative associations in the
town.
In 90 percent of the associations reporting, the board of directors
was elected by the students alone. Other methods, reported by only
a few associations each, included the following: By students and
faculty together; by students and alumni; student officers elected
by students, faculty representatives appointed by college; board
selected by sponsoring organization; and board elected by students,
subject to approval by the college. In several cases the faculty
advisors \yere elected by the students.
Elections were commonly held toward the end of each semester
or of the school year, at which time the board of directors and officers
were chosen who would serve during the following term or year.
The terms of office varied. In some' associations, president, vice
president, and secretary served for a whole school year, in others for
only a semester. In a few, one-third of the board members were
elected every 3 weeks. Continuous service beyond two elected
terms was forbidden in some associations.
Committees.— Generally, there were several permanent committees,
attending to the interviewing of prospective members, social affairs,
educational work, etc.
In some associations there was also a house committee which was
responsible for the formulation of house rules to which every resident
must conform. In some cases, however, the directors or the member
ship meetings made the house rules.
Compensation oj officers and employees.—Commonly the officers
and committee members served without pay, but in a few associations
the officers received room and board as their compensation.
The manager was always a paid employee, though in some cases
(generally small associations) his recompense was in the form of
room and board.
Operation of house.— The board of directors usually had general
direction of tne running of the business but was commonly assisted
by a number of committees and the usual officers (president, vice
president, secretary and treasurer). In one association the “ social
secretary” was an officer.

ASSOCIATIONS PROVIDING ROOM AND BOARD

The actual running of the house was under the supervision of the
manager. In some cases the manager also acted as treasurer. In
the larger organizations the manager was assisted by a “ purchasing
agent,” or “ provider.” One organization operating several houses had
(1) a house manager who was “ especially responsible for promoting
the purpose and spirit of the association,” but who also must “ inte
grate and coordinate the functions of all the officers,” act as official
representative of the association, administer the internal affairs of
the house, supervise the living and food facilities, and assign members’
house duties; (2) a purchasing agent, who also substituted for the man
ager in the latter’s absence; and (3) a steward who was responsible
for the menus, preparation of food, cleanliness of kitchen and pantries,
and ordering of food (through the purchasing agent). In the smaller
organizations all of these duties would be carried on by the manager
alone or with one assistant.
The regular work of the household— preparation of vegetables,
cooking, serving, dishwashing, cleaning, etc.—was done not by the
above officers but by the residents of the house.
In order to insure competence in management some associations
provided an understudy for the manager. Thus, there may be a line
of promotion to the managership from the position of assistant
manager or from purchasing agent. One association required the
election of the next year’s manager early in the spring, the person
elected serving as the incumbent’s assistant during the remainder of
the term and thus acquiring experience.
In nearly 65 percent of the reporting associations the manager was
selected by the vote of all the members and in nearly 20 percent by the
board of directors. In several other cases the board made a recom
mendation, which was then approved or rejected by the members.
In one case the outgoing manager selected his successor, and in another
the "oldest resident” automatically became manager.
In a few cases the manager selected by the members had to be
approved by the university, or by the dean of a specified college of the
university.
Only five associations reported that the members had no voice in
the selection of the manager; in one he was appointed by the faculty, in
one by the university, in two by the faculty advisory board, and in one
by the house mother (who was selected by the college).
P rice Policies and Charges

The very small student living associations generally consist of a
small group of students living together in a house, doing all the
necessary work (except, possibly, the cooking) and sharing the
expenses equally. It appeared to be the practice in the larger and
better-established associations to operate on a fixed-charge basis,
setting the amounts at levels that left very little margin above actual
operating costs. The Rochdale store associations learned long ago
that this is a very difficult basis on which to run an enterprise, as
miscalculation may mean heavy losses and even failure for the associa
tion. This is one of the reasons why it is an accepted Rochdale
practice to operate at current prices. The reason for the cost-plus
operation of these student houses is that their primary cause of
existence is to provide meals and living quarters at rock-bottom prices
in order to enable needy students (who would otherwise have to drop

STUDENT COOPERATIVES IN THE UNITED STATES,,

1941

out) to continue their schooling. A few of the eating clubs, however,
declare in their bylaws that “ current retail prices shall be charged.”
One Illinois association reported: “ We set a definite amount and
try our best to operate on that amount. If we run short we make
assessments to cover the shortage.”
A large proportion of the associations apparently rent both house
and equipment, and in these cases the only need for a surplus over
expenses would be to cover breakage, as the activities would lapse at
the end of the school year and the organization might occupy a dif
ferent house the next year.
However, as time goes on, an association may accumulate a certain
amount of equipment and may manifest ambitions toward eventual
ownership not only of furnishings but even of the house itself. This
was the situation in many associations that reported to the Bureau.
Lack of capital was the chief stumbling block reported.
COST TO STU D EN T

Monthly charges.—Among these rooming and boarding associations
nearly 75 percent restricted their services to members. About 25
percent stated that there was no such restriction, but two associa
tions said that the only nonmembers served were the guests of
members.
The extreme ranges in minimum and maximum charges for room
per month were, in the reporting associations, respectively, $1.50$13.00 and $1.65-$15.00. The most common charges were $3, $4,
$5, $6, and $8. The following statement gives the distribution of
reporting associations, by minimum and maximum monthly room
rents charged.
Percent o f associations
M in im u m
M axim u m

Under $3.00________________
$3.00 and under $4.00______
$4.00 and under $5.00______
$5.00 and under $6.00______
$6.00 and under $7.00______
$7.00 and under $8.00______
$8 00
Over $8.00 and under $10.00
$10.00 and under $12.50____
$12.50 and under $15.00____
$15.00 and under $20.00____

4. 5
13.4
11. 9
14. 9
11. 9
6. 0
11. 9
3 .0
17.9
4.5

Total________________

100.0

3. 9
10. 5
9. 2
17. 1
9. 2
7.9
10. 5
22.’ 4
6.6
2.6

100. 0

In a great many cases there was no range of price, all the
residents paying the same amount for rent; generally in these cases
this meant that the boys simply divided among themselves equally
the rental charge for the house. As the above tabulation indicates,
even where there was a range in charges there was not a great deal of
margin between minimum and maximum. In 62.6 percent of the
associations the minimum room rent, and in 57.8 percent the maxi
mum, was less than $8 per month.
Costs of board ranged from $6.00 to $30.00 per month, the most
common amounts being $9, $15, $16, and $20. The distributions for
the associations are as follows:

ASSOCIATIONS PROVIDING ROOM AND BOARD
Percent o f associations
M in im u m
M axim u m

$6.00 and under $7.50____________________________ 1.4
2. 4
$7.50 and under $10.00_________________________
1. 4__________
$10.00 and under $15.00—______________________ 31. 1
23. 5
$15.00______________________
12.2
9.4
Over $15.00 and under $17.50___________________ 17.6
17. 6
$17.50 and under $20.00_________________________ 13.5
15.3
$20.00__________ ______ ________________________ 14.8
15.3
Over $20.00_____________________________________
8.1
16. 5
Total..................... - _______ _________________ 100. 0
100. 0

Analysis of charges, on a geographical basis, indicates that Utah
associations had the lowest average rental charges and New York
associations the highest (table 8). Thus, the average minimum
cost of room rent per person per month in the reporting associations
ranged from $1.50 in Utah to $12.88 in New York, and the average
maximum cost from $1.65 to $13.67 in the same States. For meals
the minimum range was from $11.83 per month in Michigan to $27.00
in New Jersey; the maximum range was from $12.97 to $29.00 in the
same States. In some cases a charge was made for room and board
together, the range of minimum charges being from $13.00 in Michigan
to $32.00 in Washington and the maximum from $15.50 to $32.00
in the same States.
No question was asked as to the costs in the cooperatives as com
pared with those in other rooming and boarding places; one associa
tion, however, stated that the cooperative's charge was $25 per month,
whereas the lowest outside charge (in college dormitory and commons)
was $35.38 per month.
T able

8.— Average M onthly Charges F or Room and Board in Student Cooperatives,
1947, by States
Average rent per
month

Average board per
month

State
Mini
mum
Arizona_______________________________
Arkansas_____ ________________________
California.......... .........................................
Colorado ^
Georgia . . . . . . . . .
- Tdahn _ ^__
_
_
r __
T11innjs _
Indiana_______________________________
Kansas _____________________________
Massachusetts_________________________
Michigan...................................................
Minne^ta
- - -

$5.83

Maxi
mum

Mini
mum

Maxi
mum

7.33
5.45
6.50

$5.83
9.60
7.67
5.45
6.50

$15.75
17.11
15.00
15.00

$16.76
17.40
15.00
15.00

6.04
7.00
3.50

6.40
8.25
3.50

14.45
19.00
16.00

15.12
19.00
18.00

7.47
7.50

8.40
8.67

11.83
18.00

12.97
18.25

7.50
5.00

7.50
5.25

18.50
18.75
19.19
29.00

8.21

Missouri ..... .... ___
Montana_____________________________
Nebraska_____________________________
Now Jersey
......
New Mexico__________________________
Now Voflr
......

6.00
10.00
4.00
12.88

6.00
10,00
5.00
13.67

18.50
18.67
18.75
27.00
13.50
24.00

North Carolina__________ ____ ____ ____
North Dakota. _______________________
Ohio
„ __
_ __
Oklahoma
Oregon

5.00
10.57
3.00
4.50

5.00
7.00
10.81
6.50
7.60

15.79
13.00
17.75

16.54
24 75
18.00

11.40
3.20
1.50
7.50

11.40
3.81
1.65
7.70

21.00

15.80
12.40

20.30
14.46

Pennsylvania
_.
Texas
.
.
TTteh
_ _ ___ ___
. .._ _..
Washington___________________________
Wisconsin..........................._......................

11.00

19.00

13.43

Average charge per
month, room and
board
Mini
mum

Maxi
mum

$18.00
18. 50
27.00

$25.00
19.50
27.00

25.00

25.00
13.00

25.00
15.50

20.00

32.00

22.00

20.00

24.00

22.50

20.00

15.30

STUDENT COOPERATIVES IN THE UNITED STATES,

1941

Individual contributions.— Some associations would accept canned
goods, fruits, vegetables, etc., brought by the members from home, in
part payment of cost of food. It is reported that in some of the Texas
associations a large part of the food used in some of the houses was
raised and canned by the members during the summer vacation; some
of the meat also came from animals slaughtered on the farms. Boys
have even been known to bring in a cow, for the fresh milk it could
furnish. One difficulty in such cases lies in appraisal of the value of
such contributions and the possibilities of ill-feeling in case of disagree
ment.
In one association each member brought his own bedding and such
accessories for his room (rugs, draperies, etc.) as he desired.
COST OF R E N T TO A SSO C IA TIO N

Associations renting buildings.— The amount of rent paid by the
association for the house or houses occupied was reported by 56 coop
eratives. Each of these associations also reported the number of
sleeping rooms in these buildings. Reduced to an average outlay per
sleeping room, the amounts ranged from $1.10 to $60.00 (dormitory);
for the whole group the associations were paying rent averaging $7.70
per sleeping room.
Although some associations noted the difficulty of obtaining adequate
housing near the campus, at prices they could afford to pay, few of the
organizations appeared to be paying excessive rents. Those with
average rents per room above $20 were generally operating on the
dormitory plan, so that although the number of sleeping rooms per
house was small the number of students accommodated was consider
ably larger than average. The accompanying statement shows the
distribution of associations by average rent paid per student accommo
dated, and the average rent paid by the association per occupant.
As is evident from this statement, some of the groups paying the
largest rentals per room were nevertheless obtaining very reasonably
priced quarters in terms of persons accommodated. For all of the
reporting associations combined, the cooperatives were paying an
average rent of $2.79 per resident.
Percent o f

Amount of rent paid per sleeping room:
associations
5. 4
Under $5.00_________________________________________
$5.00 and under $7.50________________________________ 10. 7
$7.50 and under $10.00_______________________________ 21. 4
$10.00 and under $12.50________________ _____________ 21.4
$12.50 and under $15.00______________________________ 12. 5
$15.00 and under $20.00______________________________
7. 1
$20.00 and under $30.00______________________________
8. 9
$30.00 and under $40.00______________________________
1. 8
$40.00 and under $50.00______________________________
5. 4
$50.00 and o v e r .______ ________________ _____ ________
5 .4
T o t a l.._______ ___________________________________

100.0

Average rent
per occupant

$0.54
2.32
3.59
3.79
4.95
3.50
4.34
2.92
3.70
4.56
2.79

Associations buying buildings.— Although numerous associations
were buying the houses which they were occupying, only seven re
ported their average monthly payments. The monthly payments
of these associations (average mortgage payments, plus taxes) ranged
from $65.00 to $200.00. The average payment per student housed

ASSOCIATIONS PROVIDING ROOM AND BOARD

ranged in the seven associations from $3.03 to $7.69; for the whole
group the average was $4.36, or nearly twice the average for the
rented buildings.
M ETH OD OF COLLECTION

Of 107 associations reporting as to method of collecting charges,
all but seven required payment in advance—35 by the week, 59 by the
month (but in 1 case for room rent only), 1 by the fortnight, 2 by the
quarter, and 1 for a 6-month period. Of the other 7 associations, 3
collected at the end of each week the cost of the previous week’s
meals, 1 divided among the members the costs of the previous period
(length of period not reported), 1 collected twice a week, and 1 levied
a charge for each meal to be paid for when eaten; 1 association required
the payment of a half year’s charges but allowed this to be paid in
four installments. Still another reported that the bills were paid at
the member’s convenience.
One association had an understanding with the college authorities
whereby no student could graduate into the next class who was in
arrears on his bill.
N o association reported the use of meal tickets.
CR ED IT PO L ICY

Among the associations providing living accommodations, 47 asso
ciations and one of the two houses operated by another organization
gave no credit to anyone, 9 associations allowed limited credit to
members, and 40 associations and the second house of the association
above mentioned extended credit to members without specified limit.
One association specified that no member was allowed credit exceeding
the amount of his paid-in share capital. All 58 associations reporting
as to credit extension to nonmembers required cash from them.
Service in Enterprise b y M em bers

As these houses are operated by and for students to whom low
living costs are necessary, the members themselves do all or a large
part of the housekeeping. In most of the associations such service
is a required feature of membership. Of 110 associations reporting
on this point, work around the house was required of the residents
by 86. The number of hours’ work required per month of each
member by the reporting associations ranged from 2 to 60. The
working hours most commonly scheduled were 12, 16, and 30 hours;
the average was 16.
Hourly credit for members’ work.—In 76 associations the charges
for room and board were in addition to the contributed working
time; but in 25 other associations members were allowed to work
out part or all of the cost, 1 association allowed this practice “ in
isolated cases,” and still another in case of a limited number of
members. In 1 association each member in turn had the chance
to earn the cost of his meals by waiting on table or washing dishes.
Where work is substituted for cash payment, a limit may be placed
upon the amount of time applicable to payment of costs; thus, one

STUDENT COOPERATIVES IN TH E UNITED STATES,

1941

association limited it to 1 hour per day, two to 2 hours per day,
and four others to 3 hours per month, 4 hours per week, 9 hours
per week, and 12 hours per week. For the time worked credit was
given, at specified rates per hour, in reporting associations as follows:
N um ber o f

Rate per hour:
associations
20 cents___________________________
1
25 cents___________________________
4
30 cents.........................................
9
35 cents___________________________
7
36 cents. __________________________
1
40 cents____________________
8
50 cents..................................
3
60 cents. .................................
2
T o t a l .............................................

At one Chicago association, the cook was elected by the house
residents; he also did the purchasing. This member received a
salary. The officers received their meals free.
Three of the associations levied a fine for a missed shift, and one
of these specified that the fine should be paid to the member who
volunteered for the work.
Facilities o f Associations

Sleeping accommodations.—A substantial part (35.9 percent) of the
rooming houses for which reports were received were fairly small,
having only 5 sleeping rooms or less. Equal proportions (25.8 percent)
had 6 to 9 and 10 to 24 sleeping rooms each. All of the associations
that had 25 or more sleeping rooms (12.4 percent) were organizations
running several houses each.
Of the associations that reported as to total number of occupants,
5.3 percent had fewer than 10. The largest groups were those with
sleeping quarters for 10-24 residents (34.0 percent) and 25-49 resi
dents (42.6 percent). Some of the associations in the latter group and
all of those with accommodations for 50 or more students had their
residents in two or more buildings.
Meals served.— Over 138,000 meals per week were served in the
school year, 1941-42, by the 112 associations that reported on this
point (table 9). This group of associations included a number that
were eating clubs only, and did not provide rooms.
Among the rooming associations (most of which also provided board)
the 100 reporting associations had 4,444 residents, occupying 1,438
rooms. In most cases it appeared that 2-4 students shared a room,
but some associations operated on the dormitory plan. Only 35 asso
ciations reported that they had space for any additional residents;
these together could accommodate a total of 254 more persons.
A total of 91 associations reported as to the value of equipment
owned by the organization. These were possessed of furnishings to
the amount of $149,900. One association reported equipment and
furniture valued at $22,659; this included a quick-freezing unit and
a truck with containers designed to carry hot foods from its central
kitchen to the various houses.

ASSOCIATIONS PROVIDING ROOM AND BOARD

T able 9.— Extent o f Eating and Room ing Facilities o f Students’ Cooperative A ssociations
in 1941 , by States

Number of meals served per
week
State

Total________ ______
Arizona________ ____
Arkansas....................
California...................
Colorado___________
Georgia
r_ . n
Tdftho

112

41,631

r
6

2
1

17
3

Montana....................
Nebraska
New Jersey
New Mexico...............
New York

3
3

1
12
4

North Dakota______
Ohio...........................
Oklahoma...................
Oregon ......................
Pennsylvania.............
Texas .......................
Washington-Wisconsin...................

6
1

48,267

162~
2,459
9,269
639
196
800

2,798 7 3.096
1,889
1,931
298
298
457
371
2,816
2,634
1,383
1,353
240
240

3,060
1,813
322
435
2,773
1,314
240

803
752
176
151
328
150
245

825
726
171
151
328
150
245

1,811
2,065

1,959
1,655
6,546
3,200
3,916
3,237
1,815

8 •1,533

540
5,130
•2,100
,3,906
3,237
2410

9
2

48,406

189~
189"
2,562
* 2,526
38,582 38,873
569
464
' 196
196
800
800

734
757
130
119
328
145
180

1
1

i Dormitory.
* 4 associations.
89 associations.

Additional
occupants
who could
be accom
modated

Value of
furni
ture and
equip
ment

Asso
Asso
Asso
Asso
cia
cia Num Num
cia
cia
ber
tions
tions Break Lunch Dinner tions ber
tions
Num
of
re
of occu
re
re
fast
re Amount
ber
port rooms pants port
port
port
ing
ing
ing
ing

Illinois_______ ______
Indiana.....................
Kansas____________
M assaohnset.t.s
Michigan....................
M innesota................
Missouri.....................

N o r t h C a r o lin a

Sleeping accommo
dations

6,494

3,120
3,916
3,237
1,651

8 associations.
* 2 associations.

6 No data.

100

r
5

9
3

2
1

1,438

4,544

rr
247
<455
825
15
63

86
10

263
426
129
70
344
180
(«)

51
18

3
2

13
3

^28~
155
895
70
28
118

112

4
44
•71

2
1
1

11
8

1
1

7
2

6
1

9
2

1073

1223
48

4
29
40

1
1

2
2

91 $149,900
—

2,625
22,082
400
(»)
(6)

13
3

8,115
9,215
400
(6)
io, 107
6,500
1,975

132
36

• 20

16
90
15
48

1
1
1
1

3
15
16
4
17

2
6
1

112

144
156
458
32
336
300
90

713 associations.
812 associations.
#6 associations.

5
3

200

3
7

254

66
1

n 16
16

3
2

2
1
1

5,650
190
600
50
7,700

1
1

200
2,000

3,800
7,100
18 537
1,400
7,820
28,159
4,575

9
2

10 7 associations.
11 5 associations.
181 association.

D isposal o f N et Incom e

Interest on share capital.— Only 2 of 54 reporting associations pro
viding board and room had the policy of paying interest on share
capital; the others either paid no interest or were not capital-stock
associations. Of the two that paid interest, the maximum rate was
6 and 8 percent, but only 4 and 5 percent, respectively, was paid in
1941.
Disposal of remainder of net income.—Altogether, 86 associations,
providing meals or living accommodations or both, reported as to
their practice in disposing of net earnings. Of these, 43 put the
whole amount into reserves, 5 returned it to members on their shares,
and 30 paid it out in patronage refunds. Two associations operated
at cost and therefore had no net earnings, 2 stated that if earnings
were made the policy was to reduce prices, and 5 associations used
the earnings for the purchase, of equipment or replacements of
furnishings, dishes, etc.

STUDENT COOPERATIVES IN THE UNITED STATES,

1941

One association, operating several houses, retained the operating
surpluses but credited them to the individual members in the form of
shares. This it planned to do until sufficient capital was raised,
after which the oldest outstanding shares would be retired in order of
seniority, thereby keeping the ownership in the hands of the active
members.
In 5 associations, nonmembers as well as members were entitled
to share in earnings; 72 associations reported that they did not pay
patronage refunds to nonmembers. However, as few of the students’
living associations serve nonmembers anyway, this nonmember
exclusion from patronage refunds was of little practical effect.
Two reporting associations provided in their bylaws for financial
statements and distribution of net earnings every 8 weeks— 2 percent
to reserves, 5 percent in interest on share capital, 2 to 5 percent for
education in cooperation, and the remainder for refunds on patronage.
M a jor Problems

Student cooperatives, like other types of associations, find their
main difficulties to be membership and operating problems. As the
war goes on and enrollment declines because of departures for military
service or for war jobs,9 the student associations find it increasingly
difficult to keep a membership sufficient for profitable operation.
The difficulties reported most frequently were those connected with
the war (rapid turn-over among members, reduction of enrollment,
rising prices), lack of member interest, and lack of capital for opera
tion or to permit expansion. Suitable quarters—houses of sufficient
size or moderate rentals—were also noted as difficult to obtain.
Maintenance of adequate living standards while at the same time
keeping costs low, in the face of wartime increased costs, was a major
problem in a number of cases.
One association reported that its members could afford to pay an
average of only about $4 per week; many would have to leave school
if costs rose much above that amount. For this association rising
food and other costs posed a real problem.
One problem frequently reported was lack of cooperative spirit and
understanding among the members. Another problem was that of
getting each member to take his share of responsibility instead of
“ exploiting a few willing workers.”
The outstanding types of problems encountered are listed below:
Maintaining residents at house capacity (especially since war).
Reduction of or rapid turn-over in membership because of war.
Insufficient capital for operation and expansion.
Obtaining economical housing near college.
Retail prices very high and cannot buy at wholesale.
Getting efficient quantity buying.
Food— getting sufficient variety and balanced diet in low-cost meals.
Maintenance of decnt living standards on what members can afford to pay.
Nonprofit operation which leaves almost no cash for margin and emer
gencies.
Poor accounting; operating in dark; do not know if income meets expenses.
Collecting accounts from members.
Obtaining continuity in management because of turn-over of membership.
Getting full-time manager with cooperative training.

9One association had also lost three members of Japanese descent, when they were sent to a War Reloca
tion Center.

ASSOCIATIONS PROVIDING ROOM AND BOARD

Getting members to share housework and other responsibilities as they
should.
“ Making the fellows conscientious.”
Lack of understanding of cooperation on part of members.
So much time taken in membership discussion of proposed action, little
time left for actual work.
Lack of cooperative interest on campus.
University opposes expansion of cooperatives.
Lack of cooperation among the various cooperatives on the campus: com
petition for members* among groups.
Competition of fraternities for members.

In striking contrast to most of the associations were three coopera
tives which reported that they had no problems, one in which the
problems were “ very minor,” and another which reported that its
experience had been very short but so far the enterprise had “ moved
along with incredible smoothness.”
Another association which reported its main problem to be the col
lection of members' accounts, was planning to build and operate its
own laundry after the war.

A P P E N D IX .— L IST OF E D U C A T IO N A L IN S T IT U T IO N S IN T H E U N IT E D ST A TE S
H A Y IN G

ST U D E N T C O O PER AT IVES 1

Alabama:
Trinity School, Athens.
Calhoun School, Calhoun.
Tuskegee Institute.
Arizona:
University of Arizona.
Arkansas:
University of Arkansas (5).
Harding College, Searcy.
California:
University of California, Berkeley (2).
University of California, Agricultural College, Davis.
Glendale Junior College, Glendale.
La Verne College, La Verne.
Chapman College, Los Angeles.
California College of Arts and Crafts; Oakland.
Sacramento Junior College, Sacramento.
Salinas Junior College, Salinas.
i
San Francisco Theological Seminary, fean Anselmo (2).
San Jose State College, San Jose (3).
Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa.
Stanford University, Stanford University (3).
Stockton Junior College, Stockton.
University of California, West Los Angeles.
Colorado:
University of Colorado, Boulder (3).
IlifF School of Theology, Denver (2).
Colorado State College, Fort Collins (2).
Colorado School of Mines, Golden.
Connecticut:
Berkeley Divinity School, New Haven.
Yale University, New Haven.
District of Columbia:
Wilson Teachers College, Washington.
Florida:
University of Florida, Gainesville (2).
Georgia:
University of Georgia, Athens.
Paine College, Augusta.
Fort Valley State College, Fort Valley.
Georgia State College, Industrial College.
Georgia State Woman's College, Valdosta.
Idaho:
University of Idaho, Moscow.
Illinois:
Southern Illinois Normal University, Carbondale (3).
Eastern Illinois State Teachers College, Charleston.
Bethany Biblical Institute, Chicago (2).
Baptist Missionary Training School, Chicago.
University of Chicago, Chicago (4).
Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago.
Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Chicago.
Chicago Theological Seminary, Chicago (3).
Garrett Biblical Institute, Evanston.
Western Illinois State Teachers College, Macomb.
Theological Seminary of Evangelical Church, Maywood.
Monmouth College, Monmouth.
1 Includes semicooperative associations as well as those cooperative in all respects, but not organizations
dominated by the educational institution. Number of cooperative associations (where more than 1, num
ber is shown m parenthesis) includes only those concerning which sufficient information was available upon
which to judge as to cooperativeness.

STUDENT COOPERATIVES IN THE UNITED STATES,

Illinois— Continued.
Evangelical Theological Seminary, Naperville (2).
Augustana College and Theological Seminary, Rock Island.
University of Illinois, Urbana (12).
Skokie School, Winnetka.
Indiana:
Indiana University, Bloomington.
Wabash College, Crawfordsville.
Franklin College, Franklin.
St. Mary’s College, Holy Cross.
Purdue University, West Lafayette.
Iowa:
Iowa State Teachers College, Cedar Falls.
Grinnell College, Grinnell.
Kansas:
Baker University, Baker City (2).
University of Kansas, Lawrence (2).
Kansas Agricultural College, Manhattan.
Kansas Wesleyan University, Salina (2).
Friends University, Wichita.
Kentucky:
Kentucky State College, Frankfort.
Hindman Settlement School, Hindman.
Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain.
Louisiana:
Dillard University, New Orleans.
Metairie Park Country Day School, New Orleans.
Louisiana State University, University (3).
Maryland:
Blue Ridge College, New Windsor.
Cardinal Gibbons Institute, Ridge.
Massachusetts:
Massachusetts School of Art, Boston.
Boston University, Boston (2).
Simmons College, Boston.
State Teachers College, Bridgewater.
Harvard University, Cambridge (2).
Michigan:
Albion College, Albion (2).
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (14).
University of Detroit, Detroit (3).
Michigan State College, East Lansing (2).
Olivet College, Olivet.
Minnesota:
St. John’s Seminary, Collegeville (2).
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (2).
Hamline University, St. Paul (3).
Bethel Institute, St. Paul.
Mississippi:
Southern Christian Institute, Edwards.
Jackson College, Jackson (2).
Missouri:
University of Missouri, Columbia (4).
University of St. Louis, Webster College, Webster Groves.
Montana:
Montana State College, Bozeman.
Montana State University, Missoula.
Nebraska:
University of Nebraska, Lincoln (5).
New Hampshire:
Dartmouth College, Hanover.
New Jersey:
Rutgers University, New Brunswick.
New Brunswick Theological Seminary, New Brunswick.
New Jersey College for Women, New Brunswick.
Princeton University, Princeton (2).
New Jersey State Teachers College, Trenton.

1941

APPENDIX.— LIST OF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

New Mexico:
New Mexico College of Agricultural and Mechanic Arts, State College.
New York:
D ’Youville College, Buffalo.
Cornell University, Ithaca (2).
Barnard College, Columbia University, New York.
City College, New York.
New York University, New York.
Yeshiva College, New York.
Yassar College, Poughkeepsie.
Colgate-Rochester Divinity School, Rochester (2).
Syracuse University, Syracuse (3).
North Carolina:
Asheville College, Asheville.
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (2).
Womens "College, University of North Carolina, Greensboro (2).
North Dakota:
North Dakota Agricultural College, Fargo (2).
Ohio:
Ohio University, Athens.
Bluffton College, Bluffton.
Schauffler College, Cleveland.
Western Reserve University, Cleveland.
Ohio State University, Columbus (3).
Capital University, Columbus (3).
Kent State University, Kent.
Oberlin College, Oberlin.
Antioch College, Yellow Springs (2).
Oklahoma:
University of Oklahoma, Norman (3).
Oregon:
Oregon State College, Corvallis (7).
University of Oregon, Eugene (5).
Pennsylvania:
Muhlenberg College, Allentown.
Crozer Theological Seminary, Chester (2).
Thiel College, Greenville.
Allegheny College, Meadville.
Pennsylvania State College, State College (2).
Rhode Island:
Rhode Island State College, Kingston.
South Carolina:
Avery Institute, Charleston.
University of South Carolina, Columbia.
Pennsylvania School, Frogmore.
South Dakota:
University of South Dakota, Vermillion.
Tennessee:
Fisk University, Nashville (2).
Texas:
University of Texas, Austin (4).
Howard Payne College.
Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, College Station (9).
Texas State College for Women, Denton.
Sam Houston State Teachers College, Huntsville (2).
Texas College of Arts and Industries, Kingsville.
Our Lady of the Lake College, San Antonio.
Utah:
Utah State Agricultural College, Logan.
Vermont:
Bennington College, Bennington.
Virginia:
Aberdeen Gardens School Cooperative, Hampton.
Hampton Institute, Hampton (2).

STUDENT COOPERATIVES IN TH E UNITED STATES,

Washington:
State College of Washington, Pullman.
University of Washington, Seattle.
Wisconsin:
University of Wisconsin, Madison (13).
Richland County Normal School, Richland Center.
State Teachers College, River Falls (2).
Evangelical Lutheran Theological Seminary, Thiensville.
Wyoming:
University of Wyoming, Laramie.

1941

FmyiCTORY

BUY
U N IT E D
STATES

WAR
BONDS
AND

STAMPS

Full text of Student Cooperatives in the United States, 1941 : Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. 740

FRASER