We live in an era of escalating, tech-fueled change. Our jobs and the skills we need to work and thrive are constantly evolving, and those who can't keep up risk falling behind. That's where college comes in. In "Mindset Matters," Daniel R. Porterfield advances a powerful new argument about the value of residential undergraduate…

Two decades into the twenty-first century, our nation's colleges and universities no longer embrace a clear and convincing definition of the purpose of a college education. Instead, most institutions have fallen prey to a default purpose in which college is essentially workforce preparation for jobs that already exist, while students are viewed as…

This groundbreaking resource highlights the unique mission and purpose of bachelor's degree granting accessible institutions (BAIs), exploring the challenges and opportunities present within these institutions, and offering a counterpoint to the current dialogue that frames these institutions with a deficit-perspective. Featuring a broad range of…

In November 2020, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a multi-day virtual symposium on imaging the future of undergraduate STEM education. Speakers and participants pondered the future and the past and shared their goals, priorities, and dreams for improving undergraduate STEM education. Expert speakers presented…

Evaluated is a decade of campus experiments that began in the 1960's, as volatile a period of college reform as the coutry has ever witnessed. An overview is provided of the diversity of undergraduate education in the United States, and two general types of changes are identified: telic reforms, which redefine the goals of higher education, and…

The range of controversies and changes emerging from the current revival of general education are examined, and many ideas, examples, and recommendations for achieving realistic and successful curricular reform are offered. Instead of either offering an apology for general education or advocating any particular approach, the book draws on solid…

This book describes and reports on a new approach to higher education that is experiential and democratic. The approach uses discussion and interaction, laboratory work and field learning, community involvement and service, democratic citizenship and skills training, and student-initiated participatory learning in courses, projects, and clinical…

Based on conclusions of a 1993 meeting of national leaders in higher education (the Wingspread Group on Higher Education), this book charges that higher education is not meeting society's needs and suggests fundamental areas for attention. It sees demographic, economic and technical changes as increasing the importance of good higher education for…

Starting from Newman's concept of the university as a place of liberal education, this book examines how today's university functions, what its aims should be and what its strengths and deficiencies are, and presents some proposals for reform. It is argued that liberal education remains the core of university studies, although it is advocated that…

This book of nine essays was written to honor Frank H. T. Rhodes, President Emeritus of Cornell University (New York) and addresses ways in which research universities can respond to current challenges. An introductory chapter, "The American University: Dilemmas and Directions" (Ronald G. Ehrenberg), identifies key issues raised in the following…

This book of 16 author-contributed chapters examines issues of the media and public institutions of higher education including: the media ranking of universities and their contribution to low expectations of universities; the disjunction between massive support for college and university sports events and the intellectual and presumed academic…

This book advances an argument for how to restructure public higher education in the United States. Among the authors' suggestions are: instituting an open-admissions policy to allow more people an opportunity for a college education; encouraging high school students to delay their college education until they are emotionally and academically…

The transformation of American college life since World War II is traced by a university president who participated in the process at both Lawrence College (1944 to 1953) and Harvard University (1953 to 1971). Some of the crucial changes in university education during that period are discussed, including: its increasing availability to a far…

The influences, both on and off campus, that determine the shape of the curriculum of many campuses are considered. The main components of the curriculum--advanced learning skill, general understanding, breath, concentration, and electives--are outlined. The relationship of college education to the world of work is discussed. The unique…

This discussion of the quality of higher education examines how and why academic institutions are failing to provide students with a meaningful undergraduate education, and what can and should be done about it. It argues that colleges and universities, in an attempt to simultaneously provide an academic education and train students for careers,…