A sweeping assessment of the state of higher education today from
former Harvard president Derek Bok
Higher Education in America is a landmark work--a comprehensive and
authoritative analysis of the current condition of our colleges and
universities from former Harvard president Derek Bok, one of the
nation's most respected education experts. Sweepingly ambitious in
scope, this is a deeply informed and balanced assessment of the many
strengths as well as the weaknesses of American higher education today.
At a time when colleges and universities have never been more important
to the lives and opportunities of students or to the progress and
prosperity of the nation, Bok provides a thorough examination of the
entire system, public and private, from community colleges and small
liberal arts colleges to great universities with their research programs
and their medical, law, and business schools. Drawing on the most
reliable studies and data, he determines which criticisms of higher
education are unfounded or exaggerated, which are issues of genuine
concern, and what can be done to improve matters.
Some of the subjects considered are long-standing, such as debates over
the undergraduate curriculum and concerns over rising college costs.
Others are more recent, such as the rise of for-profit institutions and
massive open online courses (MOOCs). Additional topics include the
quality of undergraduate education, the stagnating levels of college
graduation, the problems of university governance, the strengths and
weaknesses of graduate and professional education, the environment for
research, and the benefits and drawbacks of the pervasive competition
among American colleges and universities.
Offering a rare survey and evaluation of American higher education as a
whole, this book provides a solid basis for a fresh public discussion
about what the system is doing right, what it needs to do better, and
how the next quarter century could be made a period of progress rather
than decline.
