American Higher Education in Crisis?

What Everyone Needs to Know®

Goldie Blumenstyk

What Everyone Needs To Know®

This quick-reading primer is both an appealing guide for the uninitiated and a dispassionate-yet-sophisticated complement to many other consumer and academic books on the topic
The author has been reporting on higher education trends for 25 years and is nationally known for her expertise in the field
Succintly written and organized into digestible sections that can be read independetly or as a cohesive whole
Perfect for college-bound students and parents with questions about the affordability and value of a degree

American Higher Education in Crisis?

What Everyone Needs to Know®

Goldie Blumenstyk

Description

American higher education is at a crossroads. Technological innovations and disruptive market forces are buffeting colleges and universities at the very time their financial structure grows increasingly fragile. Disinvestment by states has driven up tuition prices at public colleges, and student debt has reached a startling record-high of one trillion dollars. Cost-minded students and their families—and the public at large—are questioning the worth of a college education, even as study after study shows how important it is to economic and social mobility. And as elite institutions trim financial aid and change other business practices in search of more sustainable business models, racial and economic stratification in American higher education is only growing.

In American Higher Education in Crisis?: What Everyone Needs to Know, Goldie Blumenstyk, who has been reporting on higher education trends for 25 years, guides readers through the forces and trends that have brought the education system to this point, and highlights some of the ways they will reshape America's colleges in the years to come. Blumenstyk hones in on debates over the value of post-secondary education, problems of affordability, and concerns about the growing economic divide. Fewer and fewer people can afford the constantly increasing tuition price of college, Blumenstyk shows, and yet college graduates in the United States now earn on average twice as much as those with only a high-school education. She also discusses faculty tenure and growing administrative bureaucracies on campuses; considers new demands for accountability such as those reflected in the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard; and questions how the money chase in big-time college athletics, revelations about colleges falsifying rankings data, and corporate-style presidential salaries have soured public perception.

Higher education is facing a serious set of challenges, but solutions have also begun to emerge. Blumenstyk highlights how institutions are responding to the rise of alternative-educational opportunities and the new academic and business models that are appearing, and considers how the Obama administration and public organizations are working to address questions of affordability, diversity, and academic integrity. She addresses some of the advances in technology colleges are employing to attract and retain students; outlines emerging competency-based programs that are reshaping conceptions of a college degree, and offers readers a look at promising innovations that could alter the higher education landscape in the near future.

An extremely timely and focused look at this embattled and evolving arena, this primer emphasizes how open-ended the conversation about higher education's future remains, and illuminates how big the stakes are for students, colleges, and the nation.

American Higher Education in Crisis?

What Everyone Needs to Know®

Goldie Blumenstyk

What Everyone Needs To Know®

American Higher Education in Crisis?

What Everyone Needs to Know®

Goldie Blumenstyk

What Everyone Needs To Know®

Author Information

Goldie Blumenstyk, Senior Writer, The Chronicle of Higher Education

Goldie Blumenstyk is a senior writer at The Chronicle of Higher Education. Her stories have received numerous awards, including first place from the Education Writers Association for 2011 for beat reporting on the Business of Higher Education. She is a frequent speaker at higher-education industry conferences, at events designed for members of the news media, and as a guest on radio and public-television shows.

American Higher Education in Crisis?

What Everyone Needs to Know®

Goldie Blumenstyk

What Everyone Needs To Know®

Reviews and Awards

"Filled to the brim with useful facts and even-handed analyses, this book provides cogent answers for parents, students, lawmakers, and anyone else who has questions about our colleges and universities-why they cost so much, are they worth the price, how technology is changing the way they teach, who is responsible for their performance." - Derek Bok, President Emeritus, Harvard University

"As a nationally regarded reporter, Goldie Blumenstyk brings a unique and objective perspective to the nation's rapidly changing higher education context. This book is an impressive, comprehensive overview of the most pressing-and sometimes controversial-issues confronting higher education today." - Jamie Merisotis, President, Lumina Foundation

"American Higher Education in Crisis?: What Everyone Needs to Know is a comprehensive analysis of the entire spectrum of colleges and universities in the U.S. Rather than cherry-picking facts to fit a pre-conceived 'disruption hypothesis,' Goldie Blumenstyk provides a clear and concise explanation of the challenges and opportunities confronting the disparate sectors of higher education. This well-researched and well-written book will be useful to students and parents as well as those who seek to understand the full complexity of post-secondary education in the U.S. today." - Mary Sue Coleman, President Emerita, University of Michigan

"Goldie Blumenstyk brings knowledge and insight to the higher education debate. This book is even-handed and smart, and shapes some abstruse, political issues into a brisk, compelling read." - John Katzman, former CEO of The Princeton Review & 2U; Founder and CEO of Noodle

American Higher Education in Crisis?

What Everyone Needs to Know®

Goldie Blumenstyk

What Everyone Needs To Know®

From Our Blog

Is American higher education in crisis?

American higher education is at a crossroads. The cost of a college education has made people question the benefits of receiving one. To better understand the issues surrounding the supposed crisis, we asked Goldie Blumenstyk, author of American Higher Education: What Everyone Needs to Know to comment on some of the most hot button topics today.

Posted on October 18, 2014

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True or False: facts and myths on American higher education

American higher education is at a crossroads. The cost of a college education has made people question the benefits of receiving one. We asked Goldie Blumenstyk, author of American Higher Education in Crisis? What Everyone Needs to Know to help us separate fact from fiction.

Posted on September 20, 2014

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