American public higher education systems include the largest and most impactful colleges and universities in the nation, including 75 percent of the nation's public sector students. While their impact is enormous, they are largely neglected as an area of study and underutilized as an instrument for the improvement of postsecondary outcomes.…

This book examines some of the major higher education reforms and policy shifts globally, particularly in the light of recent shifts in quality and standards-driven education and policy research. It critiques the neo-liberal ideological imperatives of current higher education and policy reforms, and illustrates the way that changes in the…

This book invites readers to contemplate careers in administrative leadership. Drawing from knowledge acquired as president of Kansas State University, and from his multifarious experiences at other universities and in government service, the author takes the reader through the cycle of a presidency--from the decision to apply, to life after…

Whether or not there will be enough funds available to meet required expenditures has become an annual dilemma for most colleges and universities in recent years. This publication, based on a survey conducted among the 130 member institutions of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC), is an attempt to show…

This volume offers personal reflections and professional advice on governing a state university system from the former president of the University of Wisconsin (UW) System Board of Regents, Laurence A. Weinstein. The book is organized into 10 chapters. Chapter I outlines Weinstein's background and his vision of the role of university system…

The behavior of universities is considered from an economic perspective. It is assumed that both the administration and the faculty pursue goals consistent with their own self-interests. In addition to reviewing studies from other disciplines, the market in which institutions compete is described, and a formal model of the university as a…

Many of the difficulties encountered by colleges and universities in the effort to develop independence, quality, and uniqueness are examined by a veteran college president. Focus is on the evolution of an old normal school into a teachers college and then into the state college and university system. This collection of essays deals with the roles…

This report presents comparative data governing the financing of public higher education in each state and the District of Columbia. The model used in data analysis involves the following nine data elements: population, number of high school graduates, public full-time equivalent enrollment, taxable resources, tax revenue collected, state and…

An international research team examines California's system of postsecondary and higher education. In particular, the examination seeks answers on how California maintains educational quality, access, and equality while working with the market and the state in developing educational solutions to political, social, and economic problems. Part 1 of…

An overview of the process of university participation in state politics is provided, including the way in which a university interacts with the governor's office and the way it competes with other universities and other agencies for budget dollars. The following 23 articles are included: "The Influence of State Constitutional Conventions on the…

The thirteen states that comprise the Southern Regional Education Board are Arkansas, Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee, West Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Florida, South Carolina, Louisiana, and Alabama. The economy was the big issue in the 1976 legislative session in each of these states. Falling state revenues made…

Public higher educational institutions, where about 80 percent of all college students and 65 percent of all four-year college students are educated, appear to be in serious trouble. In order to delve more deeply into this topic, the author invited a wide-ranging team of experts to examine changes in public higher education over the last quarter…

In a set of 10 papers this volume explores nationally pressing issues in higher education, particularly financial and access issues, by examining those issues in the New York State's higher education system. The papers are: "Factors that Have Shaped Higher Education in New York State: A Historical and Current Perspective" (William C.…

This report investigates whether the state of California can return to the levels of access to higher education envisioned in its Master Plan adopted in 1960. Chapter 1 is an introduction which discusses the state's commitment to access, the structure of the educational sector under the Master plan, the effects of the recession of the early 1990s…

A study was undertaken to assess the impact of existing state policies toward private higher education on enrollments, finances, autonomy, academic freedom, and other conditions of private institutions. The study included a survey of the presidents and their staffs of 230 institutions, site visits to 28 colleges and universities in five states,…