The Future of Higher Education: Rhetoric, Reality, and the Risks of the Market

A powerful look at the risks inherent in the trend toward making higher education a market rather than a regulated public sector, The Future of Higher Education reveals the findings of an extensive four-year investigation into the major forces that are transforming our American system of higher education. The book explores the challenges of intensified competition among institutions, globalization of colleges and universities, the expansion of the new for-profit and virtual institutions, and the influence of technology on learning. This important resource offers college and university leaders and policy makers an analysis of the impact of these forces of change and includes suggestions for creating an effective higher education market as well as a call for a renewed focus on the public purposes of higher education.

Frank Newman was the director of the Futures Project: Policy for Higher Education in a Changing World and was a visiting professor at Brown University and Teachers College, Columbia University. He was president of the Education Commission of the States (ECS) for fourteen years, and president of the University of Rhode Island from 1974 to 1983. He was the author of several books on higher education.

Lara Couturier is the associate director and director of research for the Futures Project.

Jamie Scurry is a research associate for the Futures Project.