First published as The Years That Matter Most
From best-selling author Paul Tough, an indelible and explosive book
on the glaring injustices of higher education, including unfair
admissions tests, entrenched racial barriers, and crushing student debt.
Now updated and expanded for the pandemic era.
When higher education works the way it's supposed to, there is no better
tool for social mobility--for lifting young people out of challenging
circumstances and into the middle class and beyond. In reality, though,
American colleges and universities have become the ultimate tool of
social immobility--a system that secures a comfortable future for the
children of the wealthy while throwing roadblocks in the way of students
from struggling families.
Combining vivid and powerful personal stories with deep, authoritative
reporting, Paul Tough explains how we got into this mess and explores
the innovative reforms that might get us out. Tough examines the
systemic racism that pervades American higher education, shows exactly
how the SATs give an unfair advantage to wealthy students, and guides
readers from Ivy League seminar rooms to the welding shop at a rural
community college. At every stop, he introduces us to young Americans
yearning for a better life--and praying that a college education might
help them get there.
With a new preface and afterword by the author exposing how the
coronavirus pandemic has shaken the higher education system anew.
