The latest book in the Core Concepts in Higher Education series brings to life issues of governance, organization, teaching and learning, student life, faculty, finances, college sports, public policy, fundraising, and innovations in higher education today. Written by renowned author John R. Thelin, each chapter bridges research, theory, and practice and discusses a range of institutions – including the often overlooked for-profits, community colleges, and minority serving institutions. A blend of stories and analysis, this exciting new book challenges present and future higher education practitioners to be informed and active participants, capable of improving their institutions.
Series Editor's Introduction
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Introduction: Higher Education Inside and Out
Chapter 2: Bricks and Mortar: Creating the American Campus
Chapter 3: Teaching and Learning
Chapter 4: Students and Student Life
Chapter 5: Faculty and the Academic Profession
Chapter 6: Governance and Organization: Structures and Cultures
Chapter 7: Fiscal Fitness: Budgets and Finances
Chapter 8: Intercollegiate Athletics: Higher Education’s Peculiar Institution
Chapter 9: Public Policies: The Campus and Federal, State, and Local Governments
Chapter 10: Fund-raising and Philanthropy: The Nonprofit Sector
Chapter 11: Research and Development: The Enterprising Campus
Chapter 12: Colleges and Consumerism: Cost and Price of Higher Education
Chapter 13: Innovations and Internationalizations in American Higher Education
Chapter 14: Conclusion: Beyond Business as Usual
Index
Biography
John R. Thelin is Professor of Higher Education and Public Policy at the University of Kentucky, USA.
"To chart a path for the future, we need an understanding of the past. Thelin provides that understanding in a book that is erudite, thoughtful, provocative, and funny."
-William G Tierney, Wilbur Kieffer Professor of Higher Education and Co-director, Pullias Center for Higher Education, University of Southern California
"Drawing on his years of work as a preeminent historian, John Thelin presents a portrait of American higher education that is both an artistic collage and a scholarly historical analysis. Examining the full range of institutional types, this book is a valuable resource to those deeply familiar with universities and colleges, as well as those new to the study of higher education. Professor Thelin weaves together stories, examples, events, places, issues, and themes, to create a fascinating and highly engaging tapestry that illuminates the accomplishments, possibilities, and challenges deeply embedded in American higher education."
-Ann E. Austin, Professor of Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education and Associate Dean for Research, College of Education, Michigan State University
American Higher Education offers a lively, sweeping overview of the opportunities and challenges facing colleges and universities, past and present. Drawing on up-to-date examples, John Thelin outlines the dilemmas that key university stakeholders face on matters ranging from instruction to innovation, financial aid to medical facilities, athletics to governance, and student life to sponsored research. With an enduring sense of educational values, including equity and access, Thelin offers readers a view of colleges and universities that will rivet, confound, and occasionally hearten all those interested in this crucial sector of American life.
-Catherine Epstein, Dean of the Faculty and Winkley Professor of History, Amherst College
