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i was just wondering.

did undergraduates have to pay rent in like, the 1920s? did they have to pay for hall? etc.
Reply 1
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3
Chewwy
did undergraduates have to pay rent in like, the 1920s? did they have to pay for hall? etc.


Yes, massively so, you had to be pretty wealthy to come here - which is why non-collegiate bodies had been created, so people could get degrees without necessarily being part of a 'college'. Fitz started out like this.

Interestingly, though, the situation changed massively post-war with the advent of the welfare state etc. The Butler Act 1944 hugely increased funding for undergraduates, giving everyone who needed it (and even some that didn't) enough money, free from their LEA, to pay for fees, living costs and rent.

This has been gradually reduced over the past 40 years however. Just a couple of examples - my DoS had her PhD fees paid for by her LEA, something that you'd now need to find £40-50,000 to pay for one in her discipline (where there is hardly any funding). Also, an 'independent' adult student, aged 21, was given today's equivalent of about £20,000 a year, enough to pay the mortgage on a flat in London and still live comfortably in Cambridge. Even till about the end of the 1980s students were eligible for housing benefit, and so essentially lived rent-free in colleges.

We've taken a massive step backwards since the 60s, but consequently pay a lot less tax.
Reply 2
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Craghyrax
17
Bah! :hmpf:
Reply 3
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ukebert
13
My grandfather was telling me that when he was here the college took their ration books, so he didn't have a choice but to eat in hall.

I appreciate that has nothing whatsoever to do with the question.
Reply 4
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Craghyrax
17
When my Grandmother was here, due to the rationing, Fitzbillies circulated a limited number of cake cards and only undergraduates in possession of one of these cards could buy their produce. In Girton the girls would hold on to these cards and pass them down to a favourite younger student when they graduated. My gran inherited one :biggrin:
Reply 5
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ukebert
13
Craghyrax
When my Grandmother was here, due to the rationing, Fitzbillies circulated a limited number of cake cards and only undergraduates in possession of one of these cards could buy their produce. In Girton the girls would hold on to these cards and pass them down to a favourite younger student when they graduated. My gran inherited one :biggrin:


That's so sweet :p: When was your grandmother here?
Reply 6
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Craghyrax
17
ukebert
That's so sweet :p: When was your grandmother here?

I can't remember. She did languages at Girton. It must have been in the late forties.

Technically she's still here though :tongue: She remarried an ex-Master (Caius) and lives near Addenbrooks.
In January she's having a big 80th birthday party at Girton.
Reply 7
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ukebert
13
Craghyrax
I can't remember. She did languages at Girton. It must have been in the late forties.

Technically she's still here though :tongue: She remarried an ex-Master (Caius) and lives near Addenbrooks.
In January she's having a big 80th birthday party at Girton.


Around about the same time my Grandfather was here doing languages at Jesus then :p:

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