Thus the German university has no exact equivalent to the American university instruc tor, as the instructor has a paid position and is appointed with definite obligations as to teach ing, while the docent may offer within the lim its of his chosen field whatever he likes. The professor extraordinarius corresponds to the American assistant professor; the ordinarius, to the full professor. But it must be understood that in Germany both categories are appointed for life, and that the full professors only con stitute the official faculty in which the adminis trative duties are settled. Very frequently the title of professor extraordinarius is given to docents after a series of years of valuable work This is, then, merely a title without any profes sorial rights. No docent earns by his years of service any Tight to be advanced to a real pro fessorship, and seniority plays no role in the question of advancement. The principle of in breeding, so habitual in American universities, is strictly avoided in Germany. A oonstant mi gration of the professors is the rule, and this migration includes the German universities of Austria and Switzerland too. The faculty asks merely for the best productive-scholars avail able, and this rejection of all claims resulting from years of service secures the eminent char acter of the faculty.
The Students.— The students attend the university for from three to, five years for the purpose of being prepared for a profession through a critical scholarly study of its scien tific basis. The attitude of the student, at least in theory, corresponds, therefore, to the schol arly character of the faculty. This is ex pressed by the scholarly preparation demanded as entrance condition, and is expressed further by the complete freedom of the student in every respect. As to the entrance conditions, recent years have modernized the system by giving to the more naturalistic realschule the same rights as to the classicistic gymnasium. But in no case can a student be matriculated as a full student with the right to pass state examina tions who has not passed the nine years' course of one of the higher schools which presuppose a three years' course in a primary school. This 12 years' work is usually completed with the 19th year and is tested by the Abiturienten ex amination, which closes the school life. It is difficult to compare this point of intellectual achievement with that of American schools. On the whole, it might correspond to the beginning of the junior year in the leading American um versifies or to the bachelor's degree in the smaller colleges of good reputation. Those German students who have not passed this ex amination can enter merely as special students, so-called Wirer, without the right to pass uni versity examinations. Foreigners cannot pass state examinations at all; but they can be ma triculated and attain the doctor's degree. The American bachelor's degree is, then, usually counted as substitute for the German school examination, and years of post-graduate work in such American institutions as belong to the American Association of universities are ac credited to them to a certain extent.
The time of study toward the philosophical degree is nearly always four years; for the medical degree, five years. The unit of study is not the academic year but the half year, the semester, of which the one lasts from the middle of October to the beginning of March and the other from the middle of April to the beginning of August. The right of women to be matriculated dates from recent years only, and is not uniform throughout the different parts of Germany. But every university now admits well-prepared women as special students.
The freedom,of the student goes far beyond the American habit, and is not at all confined to complete freedom in the election of courses.
He is not only not limited to a minimum or maximum number of courses, but the university also does not demand any kind of test for suc cessful study in those courses. There are no course examinations, and, of course, no regis tration of attendance. The student is his own master and is expected to make just such use of his opportunity as befits his scholarly aims. No textbooks are prescribed in the courses; no questions are asked of the student and the final examinations have no reference to any particular courses. The majority of students change the university repeatedly, attracted by special great teachers, or by the special charms and facilities of a university town; this migra tion of students is one of the strongest ties which bind the states of the union together and make the German Empire an intellectual unity. But of course it works against that spirit of loyalty which binds American students toward a particular university. In the same di rection works the fact that the graduates of a university have in Germany no further adminis trative connection with that particular place. That which binds many German students to their special alma mater for their whole life is rather their belonging to a special corps or burschenschaft or other social club.
The social life of the German student finds its characteristic expression in such dub-like institutions, which have a strong intercollegiate affiliation. There is not and cannot be any class life comparable with the undergraduate depart ments of American universities, but these his torical clubs furnish a large amount of par ticular academic feeling among the students. Those students who do not belong to them live, on the whole, like any private young gentleman. To live together in dormitories is unknown, and common academic occasions are somewhat rare; but the students of the fashion able corps and of dozens of other clubs, with their colored ribbons and colored caps, domi nate the social life so completely that they appear to the outsider the only typical aca demic citizens. Their forms of social enjoy ment can be understood merely historically. All the well-known excessive formalities in the regulation of beer-drinking and fencing and dueling are remainders of the 17th century and partly of earlier periods. Yet the overwhelm ing majority of the students spend their uni versity years only for a limited time, or not at all, under the Influence of these traditional forms of enjoyment. They are seriously work ing in pursuit of their earnest scholarly aims and in preparation for the difficult state ex aminations. Sport, beyond fencing, is on the whole little developed. It must not be forgotten that the year in the army, which is the real physical training for the German nation, falls into the university years of almost every student. Politics, too, plays a very small role in the academic body, while, to be sure, religious tendencies, especially Catholic and anti-Catholic movements with political character, have re cently not seldom disturbed the peace of the student community.
The literature on German universities is recorded in the recent work of Erman and Horn, 'Bibliographic der deutschen Universi taten) (Leipzig 1904). The first general part contains the references for 17,363 writings; the second part, referring to the special universities, contains 21,725 titles. The best books on Ger man universities are Lexis, W., 'Die Universi taten im Deutschen Reich> (Berlin 1904), and Paulsen, Friedrich, 'Die deutschen Universi taten and das Universitatsstudiuml (Berlin 1902).