A law of March, 1872, provided that "all graduates of any graded school of the state, who shall have passed an examination at such graded school satisfactory to the faculty of the university for admission into the sub-freshman class and college classes of the university, shall be at ■once and at all times entitled to free tuition in all the colleges of the university." A considerable number of graduates of graded schools entered the university under this law during the "next four years, but it being deemed an unwise discrimination in favor of this class of students, in 1876, in the same act which provided for the tax of one tenth of one mill, the legislature provided that from and after the 4th of July of that year no student, except students in law and those taking extra studies, should be required to pay any fees for tuition. Few graded schools of the state are able as yet to fully prepare students for entrance into the regular classes of the classical department of the university.