The Shaping of American Higher Education: Emergence and Growth of the Contemporary System

This was the textbook for a class I took on the history of higher education. While the book is fairly complete, it is very dry. Is has a unique structure. While it is written to follow chronological periods, the chapters are divided into different themes, such as faculty, curriculum, institutions and so forth. So you could read the book cover to cover or you could follow a theme all the way through by just reading the relevant sections from each chapter. Unfortunately, the book reads like a government statistics report in places. There are so many numbers given for each time period and each topic that they start to blend together and become repetitive. To me, this obscures the basic story line at times. Supposedly, this is one of the better books on the topic and I have to admit that it does have a lot of useful information, but by the time my classmates and I had pushed our way through the 500+ pages, we were ready to put it on the shelf and never speak of it again. I would not recommend this book if you are looking for a basic introduction to the topic for general reading. However, if you need a scholarly work about the history of higher education, this may be a decent choice.

This book is intended for graduate students in higher education, and if those are the only consumers than this book is generally accessible for those readers. If you're a lay person interested in how our higher education system developed, this book may be a bit much. The focus on the development of the contemporary system is good, because that's where we're at, but there are some flaws. The authors' biases show through, especially in regards to modern politics--e.g. war on terror after 9/11. Additionally, the book omits many important developments in the last 45 years that contribute to the state of the modern system. In particular, there is no mention of the Hispanic Serving Institution designation that is part of federal law, nor is there any mention of Student Support Services as a means to increase access to higher education. While the authors describe in great detail the effects of the GI Bill and the increased access for white folks, the omission of increasing access for black and brown folks as a result of HSI and TRIO is an oversight that reinforces white supremacy in the educational system. By ignoring the changing demographics and nature of institutions of higher education, the implicit message is that the system was built by whites, for whites, and will continue to serve that population first and foremost, with little concern for the generations of non-whites to come in the future.

This is a valuable resource for college professors, administrators and doctoral candidates studying higher education administration. The book provides valuable insight pertaining to the history of higher education in America.

If you are new to higher education or taking a foundation class, then this book is for you! I found this to be an easy read while adding to the knowledge tank.

Bought this for graduate school. So far, content seems fine, but it's definitely a nice printing, good binding, fast shipping.

This book is a very readable informative book on the history of education and educational institutions. As required reading for one of my classes, I find it not to be dry and boring as many historical texts can be, and will definately keep this book as a part of my growing library.

Love this book so far! If you want to learn the history of American education and higher education this is the book for you!

Was exactly what I needed for class.