American Higher Education Since World War II - (William G. Bowen) by Roger L Geiger (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A masterful history of the postwar transformation of American higher education

In the decades after World War II, as government and social support surged and enrollments exploded, the role of colleges and universities in American society changed dramatically. Roger Geiger provides an in-depth history of this remarkable transformation, taking readers from the GI Bill and the postwar expansion of higher education to the social upheaval of the 1960s and 1970s, desegregation and coeducation, and the ascendancy of the modern research university. He demonstrates how growth has been the defining feature of modern higher education, but how each generation since the war has pursued it for different reasons. Sweeping in scope and richly insightful, this groundbreaking book provides the context we need to understand the complex issues facing our colleges and universities today, from rising inequality and skyrocketing costs to deficiencies in student preparedness and lax educational standards.

Review Quotes

A comprehensive historical account . . . well written, copiously footnoted and makes for an accessible read.---David Wheeler, Times Higher Education

Roger Geiger is the preeminent historian of American higher education and this book shows why. By absorbing the lessons of this authoritative and panoramic volume, we may find the wisdom to build on the accomplishments of the scientific and scholarly disciplines while treating the distempers that threaten higher education's further progress.--Steven Brint, author of Two Cheers for Higher Education: Why American Universities Are Stronger Than Ever--and How to Meet the Challenges They Face

"Superb. Readers looking for insight into why the American higher education system developed the way it did will be rewarded by spending time with this erudite and important book."--Christopher P. Loss, author of Between Citizens and the State: The Politics of American Higher Education in the 20th Century

About the Author

Roger L. Geiger is Distinguished Professor of Higher Education Emeritus at Pennsylvania State University. His books include The History of American Higher Education: Learning and Culture from the Founding to World War II (Princeton).