Background/Context: The traditional literature on the history of higher education in the United States focuses on linear explanations of the inexorable growth of the size, mission, and importance of colleges and universities. That approach ignores or minimizes a recurrent strain of discontent with the higher education sector, especially from…

In the decades around the turn of the 20th century, American business leaders took their first sustained interest in higher education. This historical article, based on archival analysis, challenges the traditional understanding of these wealthy individuals' philanthropy as either passive or ill-intentioned. Using Andrew Carnegie as a case study,…

At the time of African independence, the concept of higher education for development took hold in the programmes of the new African governments and in the aid projects of the former colonial powers, the United States, the USSR, and international organisations. All agreed on the need to place higher education at the service of Africa's development…

Over fifty years ago, Merle Curti sought to open up the academic study of philanthropy - the phenomenon of voluntary giving for public purposes - or what historians and reformers have commonly called "neighborliness," "beneficence," or simply, as translated from the Greek word "philanthropia," "love of…

Historians have recently opened up a reconsideration of the 1950s. Long characterized as a time of stolid conformity and Cold War conservatism, the era is increasingly seen in more variegated terms. Studies exploring a range of institutions, causes, and activities have illuminated ways the intellectual and social soil of postwar America gave root…

Published annually since 1985, the Handbook series provides a compendium of thorough and integrative literature reviews on a diverse array of topics of interest to the higher education scholarly and policy communities. Each chapter provides a comprehensive review of research findings on a selected topic, critiques the research literature in terms…

Each issue of this annual newsletter focuses on a particular area of Kettering's research. The 2015 issue focuses on a yearlong review of Kettering's research over time. This issue contains the following articles that address this review: (1) How Kettering Discovered Democracy (David Mathews); (2) Key Events in KF History (Collette McDonough); (3)…

In the post-World War II era, efforts to improve the accessibility and quality of higher education rose to prominence in US educational debates and policymaking. In retrospect, a confluence of factors helped to forge this growing social consensus about the need to create educational opportunity and to diversify the nation's colleges and…

Women's colleges in the 1970s and 1980s faced highly uncertain futures. Soaring popularity of coeducation left them with serious enrollment downturns, and challenges from proposed equal rights legislation threatened to render illegal their single-sex admissions policies. These perilous external conditions drew together the presidents of U.S.…

Thirty-five major gifts of cash, stock, and other property made by individuals and foundations since 1967, and the colleges and universities they were given to, are listed. Some institutions have received more than one major gift. (MSE)

This book traces the history of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching from its founding in 1906 through 1979. A 1999 foreword by the current president of the Foundation notes the influence of the book and briefly updates the foundation's history. The foreword reiterates the book's judgment that the foundation's policies typically…

This volume provides an extensive and detailed inter-linking account of George Peabody's life. Annotated topic headings, which include people, places, events and institutions, are organized alphabetically and comprise the bulk of the document. Each entry describes the salient points of contact between George Peabody and the given topic, as well as…

Higher education for blacks in the United States is reviewed with attention to historical developments, college desegregation, and the role of philanthropic organizations. Two early, private universities in the North that were designed to provide higher learning for blacks were Lincoln University in Pennsylvania (1854) and Wilberforce University…

Describes the life of Theodore Presser and the establishment of the Presser Foundation in 1916. Presser was a music publisher and the founder of "Etude" magazine. The Presser Foundation provides scholarships to music students, aid to elderly music teachers, and help to colleges for building music facilities. (CS)

In response to changes in society and the nonprofit sector, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation developed and funded the Building Bridges between Practice & Knowledge in Nonprofit Management Education initiative (Building Bridges). The work of those involved in Building Bridges and other leaders in nonprofit management education can benefit from the…