It is a common but unfounded belief that colleges with a large enrollment have a correspondingly large number of men eligible for athletic teams. Thus Harvard with over 4,000 students is compared unfavorably with Dartmouth or Princeton with less than 2,000 students each. In reality, however, there are only 600 more men eligible for athletics here than at Princeton or Dartmouth.

The eligibility rules differ greatly in the large colleges of the East and Middle West. In some institutions, Freshmen are eligible for 'varsity teams, in others, graduates may compete. For instance if Columbia debarred Freshmen and graduates with a degree, the number of eligible men would drop from 3,075 to 1287.

The following interesting figures have been gathered concerning twelve leading colleges. These statistics include the total registration, the 'varsity men, and Freshmen. In a few cases the registration figures seem unusually large because they include the summer school enrollment. The figures follow: College  Total  Varsity  Fr'men Columbia,  5,992  3,075  442 Michigan,  5,036  3,462  1,731 Cornell,  4,803  3,500  1,000 Harvard,  4,279  1,593  590 Wisconsin,  4,237  1,841  889 Pennsylvania,  3,900  2,400  1,300 Yale,  3,300  1,600  900 Minnesota,  3,141  1,638 Chicago,  2,901  500 Illinois,  2,750  1,800  600 Princeton,  1,725  925  400 Dartmouth,  1,334  900  397

By these figures it may be seen that, although Harvard stands fourth in total registration, she ranks ninth in the total of men eligible for the teams.