What Is College for? The Public Purpose of Higher Education

Overview & Synopsis

At a time when higher education attendance has never felt more mandatory for career success and economic growth, the distinguished contributors to this provocative collection ask readers to consider the civic mission of higher education as equally vital to the nation's well-being. Should higher education serve a greater public interest? In what ways should colleges and universities be asked to participate in public controversies? What should individuals expect institutions of higher education to contribute to the development of honesty and ethical judgment in the civic sphere? What should colleges do to foster greater intellectual curiosity and aesthetic appreciation in their students and communities, and why is this important for all Americans? This book begins with an introduction by Ellen Condliffe Lagemann and Harry Lewis. The following are included in this book: (1) Renewing the Civic Mission of American Higher Education (Ellen Condliffe Lagemann and Harry Lewis); (2) Science, Enlightenment, and Intellectual Tensions in Higher Education (Douglas Taylor); (3) Liberated Consumers and the Liberal Arts College (Elaine Tuttle Hansen); (4) The Other 75%: College Education Beyond the Elite (Paul Attewell and David E. Lavin); (5) Professional Education: Aligning Knowledge, Expertise, and Public Purpose (William M. Sullivan); and (6) Graduate Education: The Nerve Center of Higher Education (Catharine R. Stimpson).