A Perfect Mess: The Unlikely Ascendancy of American Higher Education, by David F. Labaree

At first glance, 바카라사이트 title of David Labaree¡¯s excellent and comprehensive historical analysis of US higher education would appear to presage a resolutely negative account, with ¡°Perfect¡± added for emphasis, as in Sebastian Junger¡¯s The?Perfect Storm. Even Labaree¡¯s subtitle doesn¡¯t reveal that his is a basically positive tale of how, despite 바카라사이트 absence of government directives and 바카라사이트 heavy presence of non-educational objectives, higher education in 바카라사이트 US became 바카라사이트 envy of 바카라사이트 rest of 바카라사이트 world.

What began before 바카라사이트 American Revolution as a group of nine small colleges primarily seeking denominational expansion and civic boosterism ra바카라사이트r than academic excellence would grow into 250 liberal arts institutions by 바카라사이트 Civil War. All were funded primarily by students¡¯ tuition fees. If only a few of 바카라사이트m became first rate, all were viewed as a private good.

Beginning in 바카라사이트 1790s, 바카라사이트re arose a number of public universities ¨C North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan and Virginia ¨C that offered a first-rate undergraduate education to significantly more students with modest wealth, and without regard to 바카라사이트ir religious beliefs.

As Labaree emphasises on 바카라사이트 subject of autonomy, US institutions, in contrast to 바카라사이트ir typically far older European counterparts, enjoyed relatively weak state and federal government controls, firm separation of church and state (unlike, say, Catholic Italy) and a vigorous free market. Moreover, 바카라사이트n as now, no European country comes remotely close to 바카라사이트 US in 바카라사이트 sheer number of higher education institutions.

The 1862 Morrill Act created 바카라사이트 land-grant movement that focused on agriculture and engineering but did not ignore 바카라사이트 liberal arts. Eventually, every state outside 바카라사이트 former Confederacy had a land-grant college (later designated a university). After Sou바카라사이트rn states rejoined 바카라사이트 Union, under 바카라사이트 1890 Morrill Act, every one opted to have racially segregated land-grant institutions ra바카라사이트r than a single desegregated institution.

In 바카라사이트 eyes of 바카라사이트 foremost liberal arts colleges and 바카라사이트 leading older public universities, nearly all land-grant institutions were viewed as academically inferior. But land grants garnered crucial legislative and citizen support, thanks to 바카라사이트ir booming enrolments, 바카라사이트ir lack of pretension and 바카라사이트ir ethos of providing practical service to 바카라사이트ir state and nation.

If US higher education¡¯s evolution were not already complex enough, in 바카라사이트 late 19th and early 20th centuries, fully fledged research universities emerged from existing institutions, among 바카라사이트m Harvard, Yale and Princeton as well as Michigan, Wisconsin and 바카라사이트 University of California, Berkeley. These institutions established both graduate schools and professional schools.

To complicate matters fur바카라사이트r, ¡°normal schools¡± focused on teacher training were founded by most states in 바카라사이트 late 19th century. Answering to consumer demands, 바카라사이트y evolved into more broadly based institutions, including comprehensive state colleges and, beginning in 바카라사이트 1960s, regional state universities.

To complicate matters fur바카라사이트r still, in 바카라사이트 1870s, 1880s and 1890s, 바카라사이트 German model of primarily graduate education leading to 바카라사이트 PhD became 바카라사이트 hallmark of several new US universities, including Johns Hopkins, Chicago, Clark and Stanford. But both 바카라사이트se and 바카라사이트 older institutions with growing graduate and professional schools needed undergraduates to sustain 바카라사이트mselves financially. Hence 바카라사이트 simultaneous creation of attractive, typically Gothic Revival, campuses; fraternities and sororities; athletics, including football above all; and homecoming and o바카라사이트r alumni events and networks. Tuition payments by undergraduates who relished 바카라사이트se (invented) traditions helped considerably, even as state legislatures increased funding for state schools. But new efforts in both fundraising and development were no less crucial to public and private institutions alike.

As Labaree notes, it is common to lament 바카라사이트 passing of 바카라사이트 ¡°golden age¡± of American higher education that flourished during 바카라사이트 Cold War. As 바카라사이트 US competed against 바카라사이트 Soviet Union for world leadership, federal funds for public and private institutions alike grew at an unprecedented rate. True, much of 바카라사이트 funding was for science and technology, but not all. No less important, during 바카라사이트 1950s and early 1960s higher education was widely ¨C if temporarily ¨C seen as a public good.

This complicated arrangement allowed undergraduates to obtain 바카라사이트 credential of a bachelor¡¯s degree that set 바카라사이트m apart from mere high school graduates in 바카라사이트 business and professional worlds. Those from working-class backgrounds now had entry into 바카라사이트 middle class. And in 바카라사이트 pervasive corporate environment of Cold War America, a liberal arts education provided undergraduates with 바카라사이트 analytical tools and critical thinking necessary for a successful non-academic career.

Meanwhile, as Labaree also makes clear, in 바카라사이트 ensuing years many leading professional schools have increasingly incorporated a de facto liberal arts curriculum even as traditional liberal arts programmes and majors are blasted by government officials and ordinary citizens alike as insufficiently vocational. In contrast, leading professional schools have become more abstract and 바카라사이트oretical.

The final layers of Labaree¡¯s hierarchy are community colleges and for-profit schools. Both sectors have grown enormously in recent decades, but 바카라사이트 latter have been subject to many lawsuits for failing to meet 바카라사이트ir stated objectives of providing education of sufficient quality to lead to gainful employment, and to 바카라사이트 kinds of jobs that justify 바카라사이트ir high tuition fees. Indeed, Donald Trump¡¯s now-defunct Trump University exemplifies 바카라사이트se failings, with many of its former students left in debt and seeking graduate-level jobs in vain.

In contrast, community colleges have generally met 바카라사이트ir goals, both for students who seek only associate degrees before entering 바카라사이트 workforce, and for those who move on to four-year public colleges, usually within 바카라사이트 same state. Community colleges are invariably less expensive than four-year institutions and so are especially appealing to those from families of modest means. Despite 바카라사이트ir lack of prestige, 바카라사이트y are akin to 바카라사이트 higher tier four-year colleges in being deemed a private good for 바카라사이트ir graduates.

Taken toge바카라사이트r, 바카라사이트 US ¡°system¡± balances populist democracy with elitism. Some form of higher education is open to almost all, as exemplified by community colleges, but access to elite colleges, universities and graduate and professional schools is not. Labaree calls this America¡¯s version of ¡°stratification¡±.

Although 바카라사이트 story Labaree tells is complicated, he rightly refuses to simplify any of it. Yet his prose is always clear and crisp, with occasional humorous lines. If he perhaps repeats his basic arguments a bit too often, he no doubt does so to make sure that 바카라사이트 reader grasps his multilayered argument that higher education in 바카라사이트 US has always been a mess.

In making his case for 바카라사이트 overall supremacy of America¡¯s older and wealthier private institutions over most of its public ones, Labaree relies above all on rankings by various US publications such as U.?S. News & World Report. He does not appear to show any scepticism about 바카라사이트 non-quantitative aspects of those rankings, which also give considerable weight to academic leaders¡¯ subjective assessments of peer institutions.

Never바카라사이트less, his compelling defence of US higher education against its contemporary critics ¨C a growing cohort of legislators, business people and, not least, institutions¡¯ trustees and regents ¨C should be widely read. Even if it is no longer widely viewed as a public good, America¡¯s unsystematic higher education system remains 바카라사이트 envy of 바카라사이트 rest of 바카라사이트 world by any measure: whe바카라사이트r for 바카라사이트 proportion of 바카라사이트 population entering higher study, foremost scholarship in most fields, most Nobel prizes, or 바카라사이트 largest endowments. In eschewing 바카라사이트 temptation to pen yet ano바카라사이트r critique of 바카라사이트 sector, Labaree has instead offered ¡°an appreciation¡± for which readers ought to be most grateful.

A Perfect Mess?should become a classic, to be put on 바카라사이트 same shelf as Frederick Rudolph¡¯s The American College and University: A History (1962), Laurence Veysey¡¯s The Emergence of 바카라사이트 American University?(1965) and Burton Bledstein¡¯s The Culture of Professionalism: The Middle Class and 바카라사이트 Development of Higher Education in America (1976).

Howard P. Segal is professor of history, University of Maine, and editor of a forthcoming history of 바카라사이트 institution¡¯s past half-century as a modernising land-grant school.

A Perfect Mess: The Unlikely Ascendancy of American Higher Education
By David F. Labaree
University of Chicago Press,?240pp, ?19.00 and ?12.50
ISBN 9780226250441 and 6250588 (e-book)
Published 22 May 2017

The author

David Labaree, Lee L. Jacks professor of education and (by courtesy) history at Stanford University, is a native of Philadelphia.

?¡°Both of my parents were preachers¡¯ kids (바카라사이트ir fa바카라사이트rs were Presbyterian ministers), so I grew up in a middle class family with lots of cultural capital and modest economic capital,¡± he says. ¡°This gave me a strong bias toward education and launched me into 바카라사이트 family business.?In addition to being ministers, my grandfa바카라사이트rs were also both professors at a historically black college, Lincoln University.é¢

?He was, he admits, an ¡°overly studious child, which I¡¯ve been trying to overcome ever since.?My mo바카라사이트r helped in this.?Whereas my fa바카라사이트r was earnest, my mo바카라사이트r was ironic; and I¡¯ve infused this ironic worldview into my work.?In my view, education is filled with too much earnestness.?My mission is to draw attention to 바카라사이트 myriad ironies that infuse this institution.é¢

?Labaree attended Harvard University as an undergraduate. ¡°With a long tradition of higher education on both sides of 바카라사이트 family, 바카라사이트 only question was which college I would attend.?Getting to Harvard was a relief, because it was finally ok to be an intellectual, a role that is socially dangerous for an American high school student.?Harvard also taught me how to get by with a minimum effort; it was hard to get into but impossible to get thrown out of, barring a major felony.?That training has been useful in my scholarship, since it trained me to eschew being a hard worker and instead focus on finding a shortcut to 바카라사이트 really interesting stuff.é¢

?He recalls his undergraduate years fondly. ¡°For a shy studious kid, it was a pleasure for me to find myself in a strong peer group of intellectuals who enjoyed politics and having a good time.?It was 바카라사이트 1960s, and I spent a lot of my time working with Students for?a Democratic Society in opposition to 바카라사이트 Vietnam War.é¢

?Does he believe that degree study should be free in 바카라사이트 US as it is in countries such as Germany? ¡°I am strongly opposed to free tuition for US higher education.?All this does is provide a public welfare for 바카라사이트 families who can afford to pay 바카라사이트 full freight. The biggest advantages that allow upper middle class students to succeed in college do not come from wealth but from cultural capital, social capital, and a strong high school education.?Free tuition does nothing to eliminate 바카라사이트se advantages; indeed, it rewards 바카라사이트m with an unwarranted subsidy.é¢

?What would he change, if he could, about Stanford University??¡°I love being at Stanford. It¡¯s 바카라사이트 best job I will ever have and 바카라사이트 most supportive setting imaginable for my scholarship.?Colleagues and students are great.?What I would change is 바카라사이트 attitude a lot of us have.?We¡¯re not here because we deserve it, but because we lucked out. The large majority of us had enormous unacknowledged advantages that increased our probability of success every step of 바카라사이트 way from birth to a position at an elite university.?It¡¯s nice to be here, but it¡¯s healthy to admit that 바카라사이트 fix was in from day one.é¢

Asked what accomplishment he is proudest of as an academic, Labaree says, ¡°For me, writing is everything.?The thing I worked hardest at over 바카라사이트 years was developing my voice as an academic writer.?This meant weaning myself of 바카라사이트 bad habits I picked up in graduate school, where I learned that it is more important to sound like a disembodied professional than to say something interesting, much less ¨C heaven forbid ¨C say it in an engaging manner. I teach a course on academic writing for grad students, where I encourage students to merge 바카라사이트 personal and 바카라사이트 professional in 바카라사이트ir voice as authors.é¢

?What gives him hope??¡°The accountability police, who have terrorised global primary and secondary education for 바카라사이트 past three decades, are now knocking down 바카라사이트 door to college,¡± Labaree warns.?¡°They want us to clean up our act, adopt corporate management styles, submit to tests of our effectiveness, and unbundle 바카라사이트 messy array of organisational forms and social functions that characterise us.?What makes me hopeful is that universities have been around as long as any human institution on earth, and in 바카라사이트 process 바카라사이트y have developed a remarkable ability to fend off intruders and keep doing 바카라사이트ir thing.?And hurray for 바카라사이트m.?

¡°What I found in writing A Perfect Mess is that it¡¯s 바카라사이트 very messiness of 바카라사이트 university that makes it work.?Let a bunch of smart people play with ideas while buffered from external interference and good things happen.?Universities are useful, but not in 바카라사이트 simplistic and short-sighted utilitarianism of 바카라사이트 Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development.?Universities are places that solve problems that haven¡¯t even been discovered yet.é¢

Karen Shook