Higher Education in Transition

The Challenges of the New Millennium

Brian L. Fife, Joseph Losco

• Publisher: Praeger
• Year: 1999
• Print ISBN: 9780897896375
• eBook ISBN: 9780313034268
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

This book explores the state of higher education at century's end and the challenges awaiting it in the next millennium. It assesses changes in the student population, the role of faculty, spending patterns, government support, the role of intercollegiate athletics, the nature of presidential leadership, and the impact of technological change. This volume is a call to educators, parents, and taxpayers alike to enter into a dialogue about the future directions of higher education that they are willing to support. Because in the last few decades higher education has attempted to extend both its reach and scope despite the finite nature of resources at its disposal, the new millennium will mark a time when colleges and universities must clearly delimit and prioritize their goals. This volume is a call to educators, parents, and taxpayers alike to enter into a dialogue about the future directions of higher education that they are willing to support. The role of higher education in a high-tech, interdependent world economy has never been more important than it is today. Yet, never before has its future been so cloudy. Changes in the nature of the student population, tuition increases that consistently outpace the cost of living, increasing conflict between faculty and administration personnel, attacks on tenure, the professionalization of collegiate sports, and political attacks and threats to state funding are all transforming an institution in ways that are, as yet, uncertain at best. This volume reviews the source and impact of change on today's colleges and universities. Leading scholars contribute chapters on specific aspects of collegiate life and the way internal and external forces are changing the scope and function of higher education.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Illustrations
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1 The American College Student: Three Decades of Change
• 2 The Changing Role of Faculty
• 3 Higher Education Spending: Assessing Policy Priorities
• 4 The Higher Education Policy Arena: The Rise and Fall of a Community
• 5 Past and Future Pressures and Issues of Higher Education: State Perspectives
• 6 The Professionalization of College Sports
• 7 Administering the Modern University
• 8 Desegregation and Diversity in Higher Education
• 9 Technology in Higher Education: Issues for the New Millennium
• Index
• About the Editors and Contributors