The definitive history of American higher education--now up to date.
Colleges and universities are among the most cherished--and
controversial--institutions in the United States. In this updated
edition of A History of American Higher Education, John R. Thelin
offers welcome perspective on the triumphs and crises of this highly
influential sector in American life.
Exploring American higher education from its founding in the seventeenth
century to its struggle to innovate and adapt in the first decades of
the twenty-first century, Thelin demonstrates that the experience of
going to college has been central to American life for generations of
students and their families. Drawing from archival research, along with
the pioneering scholarship of leading historians, Thelin raises profound
questions about what colleges are--and what they should be.
Covering issues of social class, race, gender, and ethnicity in each era
and chapter, this new edition showcases a fresh concluding chapter that
focuses on both the opportunities and problems American higher education
has faced since 2010. The essay on sources has been revised to
incorporate books and articles published over the past decade. The book
also updates the discussion of perennial hot-button issues such as
big-time sports programs, online learning, the debt crisis, the adjunct
crisis, and the return of the culture wars and addresses current areas
of contention, including the changing role of governing boards and the
financial challenges posed by the economic downturn.
Anyone studying the history of this institution in America must read
Thelin's classic text, which has distinguished itself as the most
wide-ranging and engaging account of the origins and evolution of
America's institutions of higher learning.
