The Future of Higher Education: Rhetoric, Reality, and the Risks of the Market

Explore the Powerful Forces That are Transforming Higher Education

"This book can play a major role in redefining the role and nature of public universities in the ′global knowledge society′ we have now entered. This is high–priority reading for university leaders, government leaders, and anyone who cares about the future of higher education."
James J. Duderstadt, president emeritus, University Professor of Science and Engineering, the University of Michigan

"Books about the competitive, market–oriented nature of contemporary higher education are becoming common enough to constitute a new genre in both the scholarly and the popular literature on the topic. But this book is different and much richer than most. The authors begin with an analysis of the higher education market and of the perils of ignoring it. But they do not stop there. They caution us that the transition to a market–oriented system is inevitable. However, the current drift toward a market–oriented system, they argue, is dangerous for higher education itself and for the larger society. Instead of ignoring the market, higher education leaders need to work with political leaders to fashion a more thoughtful, workable market."
Clara M. Lovett, president, American Association for Higher Education

"Frank Newman and colleagues have done it again. Thirty years ago, he was the visionary who foretold the coming transformation of higher education and its policy implications via the now classic federal Newman Commission report. In this volume, he describes the profound changes the years ahead will bring to postsecondary education and the ways colleges and universities need to respond. This fresh and compelling volume is essential reading, a survival guide for all who work in higher education or care about its future."
Arthur Levine, president, Teachers College, Columbia University

Preface.

The Authors.

1. Higher Education in the Grip of Transforming Change.

2. The New Competition.

3. The Coming of the Market.

4. The Growing Gap Between Public Needs and the Reality of Higher Education.

5. The Public, Political Leaders, and the Academy View Higher Education.

6. Creating a Thoughtful Market.

7. Autonomy, Accountability, and the New Compact.

8. Who Is Responsible for Student Learning?

9. Expanding Access and Success.

10. Competitive Grants for Teaching and Institutional Service.

11. College and University Strategies for the New Era.

12. A Decade of Opportunity.

Notes.

References.

Index.

Frank Newman was the director of the Futures Project: Policy for Higher Education in a Changing World and was a visiting professor at Brown University and Teachers College, Columbia University. He was president of the Education Commission of the States (ECS) for fourteen years, and president of the University of Rhode Island from 1974 to 1983. He was the author of several books on higher education.

Lara Couturier is the associate director and director of research for the Futures Project.

Jamie Scurry is a research associate for the Futures Project.

"Revealing findings from a thorough four–year examination " ( The Midwest Book Review; 12/1/2004)