When the first edition of The Shaping of American Higher Education was published it was lauded for its historical perspective and in-depth coverage of current events that provided an authoritative, comprehensive account of the history of higher education in the United States. As in the first edition, this book tracks trends and important issues in eight key areas: student access, faculty professionalization, curricular expansion, institutional growth, governance, fi… More >>
Mr. UCLA (the reviewer who gave the book 1 star) was probably a student of the writer, who is a teacher in UCLA. He didn’t seem to enjoy his class too much.
Anyway, I bought the book because I was working on my so-called “education reform”, but realized that I didn’t know anything about education. The book helped out a lot. It writes about the full history of American Higher education with an emphasis on later eras. Colonial, Emergent nattion, university transformation, mass higher education, and contemporary are the five stage of Higher Education’s development. He wrote about the major trends and characteristics of each era, some trends lasting for several eras, like the continuous expansion of the system, never ending diversification, and constant cries for access. One chapter is for one era, and all chapters are subdivided into eight sections to fully illustrate the details of each generation: societal context, institutions, students, faculty, curriculum and instruction, governance and administration, finance, and research and outcomes. The book is very well researched, and has a tremendous amount of data and charts, which were put together very nicely by the author. But that does not mean the book is boring! Though for most of the parts the author tried to be impartial, there were still many spalkling moments when you could feel the author’s passion beaming out from the pages, especially as the book go into more modern eras. I know so much more about the history of US education now, and this whole process of developments is very amazing. With this understanding of history, I also gained a far better good grip on current issues, issues not only relating to higher education, but education as a whole. Don’t hesitate, you will learn much!
Rating: 5 / 5
Cohen and Kisker have given a much needed dust-off and reshaping to the first edition, introducing contemporary issues and giving a nuanced reading of recent implications of some of the most important issues in higher education today. The clarity of the writing and incisiveness of the ideas make it a valuable tool not only for academics, but for anyone interested in learning more about the state of the modern higher education system in all its glory (and folly). At a time when the biggest endowments have seen record declines and been forced to reconsider priorities, this book can serve as a road map for navigating the many political, managerial and structural issues these institutions will face going forward. Part reference tool, part theory, part commentary, the new edition of “Shaping” is an important addition to the field.
Rating: 5 / 5
Drs Cohen and Kisker have written an impressive and comprehensive work which covers the gamit of American university education from its beginning to the present day. Set within the context of social, cultural, political and economic trends of each era, the issues are meticulously researched and clearly and concisely articulated. The book is chock-full of facts, statistics and footnotes which create great reliablilty, yet couched in the passion of the authors. It is very readable and provides fascinating coverage of higher learning in all its facets. This book will be a valuable addition to the libraries of those who want a complete history of our educational system. Kudos to Dr Kisker and Dr Cohen for writing such a complete, authoritative and valuable work.
Rating: 5 / 5
The Shaping of American Higher Education (2nd edition) by Arthur Cohen and Carrie Kisker is an extremely useful resource, not only as a history of higher education, but also as a sourcebook for past and current statistics about postsecondary faculty, students, finances, outcomes, curriculum, etc.. The book packs in the facts, but is also clear and easy to read (two things that don’t always go together). Thumbs up to Cohen and Kisker for writing a readable book that doubles as an encyclopedic source for everything higher education.
Rating: 5 / 5
Thoroughly researched and well written, this book is an incredible volume of knowledge and analysis. The book is thoughtfully structured by era and topic for greater accessibility to professors, students and researchers and includes excellent discussion questions for each chapter. The addition in this second edition of an expanded chapter about the Contemporary Era given the current economic, political and social setting, the trajectory of change among higher learning institutions and calls for reform takes this book beyond its significance as an in-depth analysis of the historical context of today’s higher education system and endows it with great insight into the trends we will see going forward in the world of higher learning while espousing the inherent value that both individuals and society at large stand to gain from college attendance.
Rating: 5 / 5