[523] Wherever a formal regulation is stated, we are advised that the schools are "free to the indigent", "free if parents are unable to pay", "free under certain circumstances", etc. In a few states, "certificates of inability" have been demanded. [524] In Maine, for instance, the law states that the school is free, "provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall be held to prevent the voluntary payment of the whole or part of such sum by the parent or the guardian". [525] Some states, notably Washington, Minnesota, Mississippi, South Carolina, Arkansas, Utah, Nebraska, and Oklahoma allow funds to pay the transportation of students who enter the college at Washington, and in some cases an even further allowance is made. In Minnesota and Nebraska, for instance, the amount is $300 a year. See _Annals_, lvi., 1911, p. 180. [526] Even where the age period is fixed by law, it is not always rigidly adhered to, and considerable elasticity may be allowed. Of the Michigan school we are told that the state "wisely allows the board of trustees the privilege of admitting those [pupils] who are older or younger, if they see fit". Report, 1908, p. 32. For discussion of the age period, see Report of New York Institution for Improved Instruction, 1870, p. 28; Ohio School, 1872, p. 17; Clarke School, 1888, p. 8; American School, 1893, p. 32; Michigan School, 1894, p. 22; New Jersey School, 1898, p. 20; Pennsylvania Institution, 1901, p. 35; Proceedings of Convention of American Instructors, xviii., 1908, p. 156; _Association Review_, v., 1903, p. 380.