Northwestern University Loan Accounts with the Board of Education of the Methodist Episcopal Church

This series consists of six volumes of student loan disbursement and repayment records spanning the period 1873 to 1933, and concentrating on the school years 1893/94 to 1921/22. All six volumes employ the same format. They are divided into three sections: an alphabetical index; an account of current loans; and a permanent record of student loan accounts. The index refers to the individual accounts in the permanent record section for that volume. The account of current loans contains entries that record disbursements to students and their repayments to the University. The permanent record is a series of individual student accounts that includes name, address, disbursements, and repayments or other settlements of accounts.

The first two volumes of the series comprise an integrated unit covering loans made between 1893 and 1916 and repayments made between 1873 and 1916. The first volume contains accounts of current loans for the school years 1893/94 through 1915/16. The second volume contains no current accounts. As funds were received from the Church's Board of Education they were entered into the current accounts section. Additions to the amount of loanable funds appear most regularly at the beginning of every term. At the top of every page of current accounts is the total amount of loan funds available on the date that the page was started. The students eligible to receive loan funds are listed in alphabetical order for each school year, with students added after the first term appearing after the main list. Loans made to each student are entered to the right under the term in which they were made. The total loan for the year is also given for each student. The loans made on each page of the volume are totaled and subtracted from loanable funds with the remainder being brought forward to the next page. To the left of the borrowers names are dated notes on money received and reports sent to the Board of Education. The section on loans made runs from page 1 to page 44 in the first volume.

Also in the current term accounts of the first volume is a chronological record of repayments. this record runs from page 55 to 92, with the earliest entries on page 92. The repayment record covers the period 1902-1916. Each entry is dated and gives the name of the student, his address, and the amount paid toward his loan. Note is also taken of when collected funds are forwarded to the Board of Education of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

The first volume contains the permanent student loan accounts numbered 1 through 757. The second volume continues account numbers 757 and proceeds through account number 1016. Permanent loan account records consist of the borrowers name and address, often with updates; dates and amounts borrowed, dates and amounts repaid, including notes on interest paid. The majority of the accounts indicate a final disposition of the account; balanced, cancelled, and deceased being the most common. The permanent record covers the period 1873 to 1916.

The four remaining volumes, numbered I, II, III, IV are a unit recording loans made between 1917 and 1922 and repayments made between 1915 and 1933. The account of current loans in volume I contains a chronological listing of loan repayments. The list includes the student's name, address, and amount repaid. Each entry is posted to the permanent record for that student in any one of the four volumes. Volumes II and III contains the current record of loan payments.

Volume II covers the school years 1916/17 to 1918/19 and volume III covers the school years 1919/20 to 1921/22. The names of students eligible for loans are entered alphabetically for each term that they are eligible. Information includes home address, a posting to the appropriate permanent account, and an account number. The amount of the loan is recorded to the right. Volume IV contains no current records.

The permanent account of student loans runs through all four volumes. The account numbers included in each volume are listed on the cover (V. I 14-17878; V. II 17881-25050; V. III 25403-33748; V. VI 33749-42692). In addition to the students account number the permanent account records address, date and amount of loan, date and payments to Northwestern, and date and payments directly to the Board of Education. The majority of the accounts have a note on final disposition of the account. Though this series covers loans made during school years 1893/94 to 1921/22 the repayment records cover the period 1873-1933.