Includes bibliographical references (p. 459-472) and index.

Reading history," says Arthur Cohen, "is essential for those who would reform higher education." From the earliest American col- leges, debates have ranged over familiar issues in higher education: curriculum changes, facul ty selection and review, student admissions, and institutional funding. Yesterday's practices underlie today's problems even as the system continues evolving. How has this evolution taken place? And to what degree have things changed or remained the same?

In The Shaping of American Higher Education, Cohen combines historical perspective with in- depth coverage of current events to provide an authoritative, comprehensive account of the history of higher education in the United States. From the colonial era to the present day-and with particular attention to the past fifty years-the book tracks trends in student access, faculty professionalization, curricular expansion, institutional growth, secular gover- nance, public finance, research, and outcomes, placing them all in the context of contemporary society. Cohen organizes the book around a unique matrix of trends, topics, and eras that enables the reader either to proceed chapter by chapter through a chronological sequence of the entire history, or to easily follow a pre- ferred topic, such as faculty or curriculum, by reading only that specific section in each era.

While other books have detailed the early his- tory of the collegiate system, Cohen's work ful- fills the need for an up-to-date account of American higher education that emphasizes the post-World War II era. Cohen synthesizes prevailing views of earlier eras in order to establish a solid background for his extensive examination of the past fifty years.

English.