 A Royal Commission was appointed in 1852 to investigate the university . The college wished to retain its links with Wales , and initial reforms were limited despite the wishes of the commissioners : those scholarships that were limited to particular parts of Wales were opened to the whole of Wales , and half of the fellowships awarded were to remain open only to Welshmen " ' if and so long as the Principal and Fellows shall deem it expedient for the interests of education in connection with the Principality of Wales ' " . All the scholarships at the college , except for two , and all the exhibitions were still restricted to students from Wales . The numbers of students at the college still fell , despite prizes being awarded for success in university examinations . Daniel Harper , principal from 1877 to 1895 , noted the continuing academic decline . Speaking in 1879 , he noted that fewer students from the college were reaching high standards in examinations , and that more Welsh students were choosing to study at other Oxford colleges in preference to Jesus . A further Royal Commission was appointed . This led to further changes at the college : in 1882 , the fellowships reserved to Welshmen were made open to all , and only half ( instead of all ) of the 24 scholarships were to be reserved for Welsh candidates . Thereafter , numbers gradually rose and the non @-@ Welsh element at the college increased , so that by 1914 only about half of the students were Welsh . 
