| Description |
1 online resource. |
| Series |
What everyone needs to know |
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What everyone needs to know.
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| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Note |
Print version record. |
| Contents |
American Higher Education in Crisis? -- Copyright -- Contents -- Facts and Figures on American Higher Education -- Author's Note -- INTRODUCTION -- Is higher education in America in crisis? -- PART ONE STUDENTS -- Who goes to college in America? -- How does the United States stack up internationally? -- Why are there so many "goals" for raising the nation's college-going and college-attainment rates, and who sets them? -- How competitive is college admission? -- Why do some analysts call higher education an "engine of inequality?" -- What is the effect of merit scholarship programs? -- Is American higher education racially and economically segregated? -- Where do community colleges fit in this picture? -- Are for-profit colleges also affected by this race and class divide? -- Haven't affirmative action efforts over the past few decades helped make colleges more diverse? -- Will the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in the Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin case make it less likely that colleges will actively recruit minority students? -- What is "undermatching," and what role does it play in higher-education diversity? -- How many students come to college prepared to do college-level work? What happens to those who are not prepared? -- Are distance-education courses or "alternative-education" approaches effective for students from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds? -- PART TWO COSTS, SPENDING, AND DEBT -- How much does America spend on higher education, and how has that changed over time? -- Besides tuition, what are other sources of income for colleges? -- What impact do donations have on college revenues? -- Don't most public colleges get the majority of their support from their states? -- Why do people say states have "disinvested" in public higher education? -- How have tuition prices changed over the past few decades? |
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So how expensive is college? -- Is this why people talk about colleges having a "sticker price" and a "net price"? -- Don't middle-class and even upper-income families struggle to pay for college, too? -- In the past, students would work their way through school. Why can't they just do that today? -- How big is the student-loan burden? -- What steps are being taken to address this debt burden? -- Which sectors produce the highest rates of student-loan defaults? -- What is the significance of a default rate? -- What is the difference between the price and the cost of college? -- Are the factors that drive prices at private nonprofit colleges different from those at public institutions? What about for-profit colleges? -- What is a "discount rate," and why is the rise in this rate a concern? -- Are some colleges in such financial trouble that they are in danger of closing, merging, or being acquired? -- Do for-profit colleges pose a competitive threat to traditional colleges and universities? -- Does distance education make money for colleges? -- Do projected changes in the population of the country pose a threat to colleges' financial health? -- Why have some public colleges emphasized recruiting of out-of-state and international students? Will this help their financial picture? -- Don't multimillion dollar broadcast contracts for football and basketball games and apparel-licensing deals produce big windfalls for colleges? -- Does intercollegiate athletics pay off for colleges in other ways? -- Do universities make money on the drugs and other inventions that they patent and license? -- What is the prognosis for revenue strategies that rely on "profits" from master's programs or law schools, or similar approaches based on internal cross-subsidies? -- Are salaries of professors to blame for higher spending by colleges? |
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So what about the spending on these noninstructional costs? Is "administrative bloat" a factor in rising prices? -- Do those "lazy rivers" and other elements of the "amenities race" drive up college costs? -- What about colleges' debt? -- What other things contribute to rising college costs? -- Are there financial threats from other looming costs, like deferred maintenance? -- PART THREE WHO'S IN CHARGE? LEADERSHIP PRESSURES-FROM WITHIN AND WITHOUT -- How are colleges run? Is their unusual practice of "shared governance" in danger? -- What role do adjunct professors play in this system? -- How do the faculty models at large for-profit colleges compare with those of traditional institutions? Are these "core faculty" models catching on in traditional higher education? -- What concerns have been raised about the future of the college presidency? -- Do American colleges face international competition? -- What do people mean when they talk about the "accountability movement" in higher education? -- Is the accountability movement having an impact? -- Do the reports and measures actually say much about what students learn? -- Is the federal government also looking to hold colleges accountable? -- Might these "accountability" pressures make their way into federal law? -- Why is there interest in changing what accreditors do? -- What other kinds of organizations are calling for a new direction in higher education? Is this kind of attention new? -- What role are big foundations playing in shaping the national higher-education agenda? -- Have nonprofit universities been "corporatized"? -- Is the "higher-education industry" attractive to investors? -- PART FOUR WHAT'S AHEAD -- What does "disruption" mean when it comes to the future of higher education? -- What are MOOCs? -- Are there proposals for new low-cost or even no-cost models of higher education? |
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What are "open educational resources," and might they reduce college costs? -- Has the "big data" movement made an impact on college teaching and other aspects of higher education? -- What are "badges" and "stackable credentials"? Might they replace traditional college credentials? -- What are competency-based degrees and is there momentum behind them? -- What other alternative-education options are there for earning college credits? -- Are American colleges adopting a German model of apprenticeships? -- So does all this emphasis on career-focused degrees spell doom for a traditional liberal arts education? -- How widespread is distance education and how is it evolving? -- Will online education eventually make campuses obsolete? -- CONCLUSION -- Should we be optimistic about the future of higher education in America? -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Further Reading -- Index. |
| Summary |
A timely primer on the current embattled state of American higher education, this book guides readers through the forces and trends that have brought the education system to this point, and highlights some of the ways they will reshape America's colleges in the years to come. |
| Subject |
Education, Higher -- United States.
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Universities and colleges -- United States.
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Education, Higher -- Aims and objectives -- United States.
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EDUCATION -- Higher.
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POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Political Process -- General.
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Education, Higher. (OCoLC)fst00903005
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Education, Higher -- Aims and objectives.
(OCoLC)fst00903015
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Universities and colleges. (OCoLC)fst01161597
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United States. (OCoLC)fst01204155
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| Other Form: |
Print version: Blumenstyk, Goldie. American higher education in crisis? 9780199374083 (DLC) 2014016159 (OCoLC)879527842 |
| ISBN |
9780199374106 (electronic bk.) |
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0199374104 (electronic bk.) |
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