ents came almost entirely from nearby towns
in Michigan, many registering from little hamlets now almost forgotten.
By 1850, however, almost one-third of the total of 64 students in the
academic department were from outside the State, some even hailing from
as far as New England. Ten years later almost half the 526 enrolled were
from other states than Michigan, with a sprinkling from Canada. The same
was true of the 1,112 students in 1870, though by this time practically
all sections of the country were represented--even California. Less than
half the students in 1880 were from Michigan, 642 out of a total
enrolment of 1,427, a condition that also held true in 1890, when the
proportion was 1,019 out of 2,153. But by 1900 Michigan was again
sending more than half the students in the University, 2,009 out of
3,440; and the same was true in 1910 with 2,832 out of 5,383 and again
in 1920 with 5,793 out of 9,401.

Professor Hinsdale in his "History" publishes a significant little table
showing that in 1870 the ratio of Michigan students to the population of
the State was one to 2,300. This ratio was increased slightly ten years
later and then dropped to one in 1,802 in 1890, one in 1,206 in 1900,
and to one in 992 in 1910. The 1920 census shows one in 636.

The enrolment of foreign students in the University is also significant.
Aside from students registering from Canada, who came almost from the
first, the first appreciable showing of foreign students came in the
eighties, with nine enrolled in 1880. In 1890 there were forty-three
including twenty-one from Japan, but ten years later the number had
dropped to nineteen. This was due partly to the fact that there were
only seven Japanese students, while the seven from Porto Rico and two
from Hawaii were no longer "foreign." The total, excluding fourteen from
the United States dependencies and twenty-five from Canada, was
sixty-eight in 1910. Of this number eleven students were from China; a
little band which grew to thirty-six in 1919, when they formed no
inconsiderable proportion of the 140 foreign students enrolled, strongly
organized for social and educational purposes and affiliated with
similar organizations in other universities. Japan sent eighteen and
South Africa twenty-eight the same year. Aside from these, seventy-four
were registered from Canada and fourteen from Porto Rico, the
Philippines, and Hawaii. Of late years there has also been a marked
increase of stude