The American College: Some Problems and Choices

Abstract

Americans have traditionally exhibited an abiding faith in the capacity of higher education to advance their personal and social welfare. However, the available empirical evidence on the impact of college is ambiguous. Some important changes occur during the college years but it is difficult to establish the independent influence of education in producing these outcomes. It is conceivable that the poten tial effects of education have been exaggerated. Efforts to develop more imaginative collegiate programs have been both inhibited and fostered by the preoccupation with financial crises and campus governance. The most prominent ideal conceptions of the collegiate enterprise are presented: scho lastic, vocational, action, utopian, consumer, and experiential. The range of these proposals suggests that college is no longer an elite privilege. The implications of newer developments for admission, and "time and motion," are presented, and some classic issues are identified. The importance of con sidering educational reform from a social as well as individual perspective is illustrated and the difficulty of creating a coherent educational philosophy is discussed.