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In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section Historical Evolution of Higher Education in the United States

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Historical Evolution of Higher Education in the United States by Christopher Loss , Serena Hinz , Christopher J. Ryan , Christine Dickason LAST REVIEWED: 26 August 2020 LAST MODIFIED: 26 August 2020 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199756810-0057

In this article, the historical evolution of higher education refers to higher learning in the United States from the colonial era to the present day. A radically pluralistic system of public, private, and for-profit two- and four-year training institutes and colleges and professional and graduate schools, the American system is generally regarded as the best in the world. A by-product of the American commitment to liberty and to the belief that academic life should exist outside the grasp of direct government control, US higher education’s independence has gradually decreased since World War II and with the dramatic growth of federal funding for research and student aid. Consisting of 4,700 institutions that enroll upward of twenty million students from the United States and abroad, the sector has become a critical governmental intermediary that relies on heavy state-level and federal subsidies and tax expenditures in order to fulfill its core mission of teaching, research, and service. The higher education system also faces a number of pressing challenges: rising costs, declining public support, high student attrition, and long time-to-degree that often results in no degree at all, especially at two-year colleges where the majority of poor and underrepresented minority students enroll. The US higher education system, existing as it does at the intersection of state/society relations, is a fascinating site to study American history. The citations included in this article are intended to provide a point of embarkation for further inquiry. They have been selected because they offer a thematic overview of the history of American higher education intended to provoke additional reading and investigation.

Chroniclers have been tracing the historical evolution of organized higher learning since its formation in Europe and England in the 11th and 12th centuries CE . In the American context, “house histories” of varying quality and accuracy likewise accompanied the founding of the first colonial colleges in the 17th century. While these institutional histories remain a staple of the historical literature and are popular among alumni (and could alone fill an entire annotated bibliography), the first professional histories written by professionally trained historians did not emerge until the late 19th century, which saw the rise of the American history profession. A fringe field dominated by narrowly drawn institutional studies, the systematic scholarly exploration of the history of higher education surged after World War II, when the importance of the research university for national defense and for educating citizens for the rapidly changing labor market and world first became manifest. The postwar period witnessed unprecedented demand for collegiate study, especially among the country’s millions of GI Bill–wielding veterans, which, in turn, generated heightened interest in the study of the institution’s historical evolution. In an effort to make sense of American higher education’s dramatic emergence as a key engine of social mobility, economic progress, and national defense, Brubacher and Rudy 1958 examines the history of the higher education sector as it changed from one dominated by the old-time college to one dominated by the research university. Rudolph and Thelin 1990 provides an incisive study of the “collegiate way” and the lasting influence of the college model on the ascendant university in the late 19th century. For the emergence of the American university, readers should engage Kerr 1963 and Veysey 1965 . On the academic enterprise’s transformation into a secular middle-class institution, see Bledstein 1978 and Reuben 1996 . For the best synthetic history of American higher education, see Thelin 2011 . For a new interpretation of higher education’s role in nation building and in defining the terms of democratic citizenship in the 20th century, see Loss 2012 . Smith and Bender 2006 compiles an impressive collection of primary documents that will assist readers in navigating higher education’s changing meanings, policies, and practices since World War II.

Bledstein, B. J. 1978. Culture of professionalism: The middle-class and the development of higher education in America . New York: Norton.

Through a close examination of leading university presidents—including Harvard’s Charles Eliot and Yale’s Noah Porter—the book explores the rise and impact of the middle class on the modern university and how the middle class turned the institution into a main engine of upward mobility and social status.

Brubacher, J. S., and W. Rudy. 1958. Higher education in transition: A history of American colleges and universities . New York: Harper & Row.

A comprehensive history notable for being among the first critical appraisals of American higher education written in the post–World War II period.

Kerr, C. 1963. The uses of the university . Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press.

A seminal work—first published in 1963—on the history of the “federal grant university,” what Kerr famously dubbed the “multiversity.” Conceptually rich yet accessibly written, this book is essential reading for scholars, students, and administrators interested in understanding the behavior of the modern research university since World War II.

Loss, C. P. 2012. Between citizens and the state: The politics of American higher education in the 20th century . Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press.

A social and political history that tracks the growing partnership between the federal government and higher education between World War I and the rights revolution of the 1970s, and the collapse of that relationship from the 1980s onward.

Reuben, J. A. 1996. The making of the modern university: Intellectual transformation and the marginalization of morality . Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.

Examines the impact of value-neutrality and of objective truth on the gradual disestablishment of religious orthodoxy in the modern university.

Rudolph, F., and J. R. Thelin. 1990. The American college and university: A history . Athens, GA: Univ. of Georgia Press.

Rudolph’s survey covers the colonial college and the rise of the university, but is at its best dissecting the “college movement” of the first half of the 19th century and the spread of the “collegiate way”—the institutions and habits of mind that gradually coalesced to form the general pattern of undergraduate education in the United States.

Smith, W., and T. Bender. 2006. American higher education transformed, 1940–2005: Documenting the national discourse . Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press.

This collection of primary documents serves as a miniature archive on the history of American higher education since World War II, covering an assortment of topics: from the liberal arts and graduate study to the academic profession, academic freedom, and the rights of students. Provides an excellent guide for faculty and administrators interested in better understanding American higher education.

Thelin, J. R. 2011. A history of American higher education . 2d ed. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press.

This well-written and engaging study, which deploys sociologist Burton Clark’s idea of the university as an institutional saga, is the rare scholarly study that will enlighten both the general reader and the professional academic—ideal for both introductory and advanced courses in higher education administration and policy studies.

Veysey, L. R. 1965. The emergence of the American university . Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.

Working at the crossroads of organizational theory and intellectual history, this book uses a series of illuminating institutional case studies of the country’s first universities to explore how the fragmentation of knowledge led to the bureaucratization of the institution and to new patterns of social experience for faculty, students, and administrators.

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History of Higher Education

Amal Kumar is an Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Administration at the California State University, Sacramento. His teaching and research explore the evolving relationships between public higher education and its institutional, political, and social contexts through rigorous interdisciplinary engagement between organizational theory, public policy, and history. Current interests include policy intermediaries, educational innovation and entrepreneurship, and equity in the American professoriate. His work has been published in Higher Education, CSHE’s ...

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John Aubrey Douglass

John Aubrey Douglass is Senior Research Fellow and Research Professor - Public Policy and Higher Education at the Center for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE) at the University of California - Berkeley. He is the author of Neo-Nationalism and Universities (Johns Hopkins Univeristy Press 2021), ...

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Maresi Nerad

Maresi Nerad is the founding director of the Center for Innovation and Research in Graduate Education (CIRGE) and a full Professor (tenured) for Higher Education, in the Leadership in Higher Education Program, College of Education, at the University of Washington, Seattle. A native of Germany, Dr. Nerad received her doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley; directed research in the central Graduate Division of UC Berkeley, served as Dean in Residence at the Council of Graduate Schools, D.C., and as Associate Dean of the UW central Graduate School. She was appointed as...

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Graduate Women at Berkeley and Women in Science

Anne MacLachlan has worked for many years researching the experience of women and underrepresented minorities in doctoral education at Berkeley and their career paths with a focus on those in STEM fields. Her project for 150W is to write the history of women in doctoral education from the first Ph.D. granted to a woman at Berkeley in 1898 and place Berkeley development in the context of graduate education at Berkeley and in the US. She completed one of the ...

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Zach Bleemer

Zach Bleemer is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Princeton University in the Industrial Relations Section . He is also a research associate of Opportunity Insights and the Center for Studies in Higher Education , where he directs the UC ClioMetric History Project

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Robert C. May

Robert C. May is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Linguistics at UC Davis. He received his Ph.D. in Linguistics and Philosophy from MIT in 1977, and his Bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College. Prof. May joined the UC Irvine faculty in 1986, and moved to UC Davis in 2006. He held the Venice Chair in Philosophy of Language and Theoretical Linguistics, a Fulbright Distinguished Professorship, and visiting positions at Columbia University, Ecole Normale Superieure, and Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales.

Prof. May’s research interests span areas in...

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Steven G. Brint

Steven Brint is Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Public Policy at the University of California, Riverside, Director of the Colleges & Universities 2000 Project, and a Principal Researcher in the SERU Consortium.

Brint is an organizational sociologist whose research focuses on topics in the sociology of higher education, the sociology of professions, and middle-class politics. His studies of higher education have been funded for two decades by the National Science Foundation and two philanthropies. He is the author of four books: The Diverted Dream (with Jerome Karabel) (...

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Krista M. Soria, Ph.D.

Dr. Krista M. Soria (she/her) is an Assistant Professor of Leadership and Counseling at the University of Idaho. She is a critical quantitative researcher seeking to investigate the most equitable and inclusive programmatic practices and institutional conditions to prepare students to engage in the complexities of social change. She examines how higher education institutions can create a more supportive campus climate for students from diverse backgrounds, whether programs are equitably accessible and beneficial to all students, and how we can create structural conditions to support...

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Gary Matkin

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Sheldon Rothblatt

Professor Rothblatt is Professor of History Emeritus and former Director of the Center for Studies in Higher Education at the University of California, Berkeley. He was educated at Berkeley and King's College, Cambridge University, and has an honorary degree from Gothenburg University in Sweden. He has been honored by the Swedish king as Knight Commander of the Royal Order of the Polar Star, Sweden’s highest award to foreigners other than heads of state. Besides his career at Berkeley, he has taught at Monash University in Australia, Stanford University, the University of Vienna, New York...

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The Oxford Handbook of the History of Education

John L. Rury is a professor of education and (by courtesy) history and African and African American studies at the University of Kansas.

Eileen H. Tamura is a professor emerita of history of education at the University of Hawai‘i–Mānoa and past president of the History of Education Society (U.S.).

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This handbook offers a global perspective on the historical development of educational institutions, systems of schooling, ideas about education, and educational experiences. Sections deal with questions of theory and methods, ancient and medieval education, the rise of national school systems, the development of universities in different contexts, problems of inequality and discrimination in education, and reform and institutional change. Specific chapters discuss colonialism and anticolonial struggles, indigenous education, gender issues in education, higher education systems, educational reform, urban and rural education, the education of minority groups, comparative, international, and transnational education, childhood and education, nonformal and informal education, and a range of other topics. Chapters consider changing scholarship in the field, connect nationally oriented works by comparing themes and approaches, and provide suggestions for further research and analysis. Like many other subfields of historical research and writing, the history of education has been deeply affected by international social and political upheaval occurring since the 1960s. In this regard, as chapters weigh the influence of revisionist perspectives at various points in time, they take particular note of those arising after that time. In discussing changing viewpoints, their authors consider how schooling and other educational experiences have been shaped by the larger social and political context, and how these influences have affected the experiences of students, their families, and the educators who have worked with them. Each chapter includes notes and a bibliography for readers interested in further study.

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Loyola University Chicago Libraries

Education main research guide.

• Gun Violence: School Shootings
• Databases (Article Search)
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• History of Education

History of Higher Education Resources

• Archives and Special Collections
• ELPS 412 - Urban Education Policy
• TLSC 406 - Educational Policy for Diverse Students

History of Higher Education Resources An Internet Hotlist on Higher Education

created by Ann Marie Ryan updated and edited by Tracy Ruppman Loyola University Chicago

Introduction | Primary Sources | Secondary Sources | Primary and Secondary Sources | Research and Writing in History

Introduction The following websites offer institutional profiles, histories of higher education, primary sources related to higher education, and links to resources on the history of higher education.  

The Internet Resources

• Higher Education Associations -
• Illinois Board of Higher Education - This site provides a listing of higher education institutions in Illinois and specifically in the city of Chicago and its metropolitan area.

Primary Sources

• 125th Anniversary of Johns Hopkins University -
• Brown v. Board of Education -
• Five College Archives - This is a digital archive for the Five Colleges - Amherst, Smith, Mount Holyoke, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Hampshire. The collection emphasizes the history of women's education at these institutions.
• Junior College History Sources, 1900-1940 -
• National Student Affairs Archive - Hosted by Bowling Green State University
• Our Documents - This site has 100 significant documents in U.S. history, including the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.
• Oyez : US Supreme Court Cases -
• Student Affairs History Project -
• The Morrill Act of 1862 - Full text of the Morrill Act, hosted by the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center.

Secondary Sources

• A Brief History of Affirmative Action in California - This site gives a good overview of the laws, regulations and policies affecting affirmative action in the state of California.
• American Association of University Professors -
• American Indian Higher Education Consortium -
• Important Events in Higher Education - James Forest & Kevin Kinser. 2002. Higher Education in the United States: An Encyclopedia. New York: ABC-CLIO Publishers.

Primary and Secondary Sources

• Association for the Study of Higher Education - This source supports the ASHE Reader Series on the history of higher education. The Reader Series is a considerable collection of primary sources related to American higher education generally with specific documents organized chronologically. It also offers some general overviews of the history of higher education in the United States.
• American Association of Community Colleges - This site offers historical background of community colleges in the U.S.
• History and Archival Resources in Higher Education -
• History of Education: Selected Moments of the 20th Century - Daniel Schugurensky, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto
• Penn State: An Illustrated History -
• The History of the California Master Plan for Higher Education - a project of the Center for Studies in Higher Education
• Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities  - Morrill Act Sesquicentennial, 1862-2012

Research and Writing in History

• Developing an Argument -
• Reading, Writing and Research for History - Patrick Rael, Bowdoin College
• << Previous: History of Education
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• Last Updated: Jan 23, 2024 2:26 PM
• URL: https://libguides.luc.edu/education

Loyola University Chicago Libraries Cudahy Library · 1032 W. Sheridan Rd., Chicago, IL 60660 · 773.508.2632 Lewis Library · 25 E. Pearson St., Chicago, IL 60611 · 312.915.6622 Comments & Suggestions Notice of Non-discriminatory Policy

Essential Documents in the History of American Higher Education

John r. thelin.

The thoroughly updated second edition of this dynamic and thoughtful collection focuses on the issues that have shaped American higher education in the past decade. Essential Documents in the History of American Higher Education , designed to be used alongside John R. Thelin's A History of American Higher Education or on its own, presents a rich collection of primary sources that chart the social, intellectual, political, and cultural history of American colleges and universities from the seventeenth century to the present. The documents are organized in sections that parallel the chapters in A...

The thoroughly updated second edition of this dynamic and thoughtful collection focuses on the issues that have shaped American higher education in the past decade. Essential Documents in the History of American Higher Education , designed to be used alongside John R. Thelin's A History of American Higher Education or on its own, presents a rich collection of primary sources that chart the social, intellectual, political, and cultural history of American colleges and universities from the seventeenth century to the present. The documents are organized in sections that parallel the chapters in A History both chronologically and thematically, and sections are introduced with brief headnotes establishing the context for each source.

This updated edition of Essential Documents focuses on the issues that have shaped American higher education in the past decade, from congressional investigations into endowments and court cases about paying student-athletes to accounts of campus protests over racial discrimination and adjuncts struggling in the "gig economy." From the successful fund-raising campaigns of 2014 to the closing of campuses because of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, the book also includes

• a new tenth chapter, "Prominence and Problems: American Higher Education since 2010," and an updated introduction; • a number of landmark documents, including the charter for the College of Rhode Island (1764), the Morrill Land Grand Act (1862), the GI Bill (1944), and the Knight Commission Report on College Sports (2010); and • lively firsthand accounts by students and teachers that tell what it was like to be a Harvard student in the 1700s, to participate in the campus riots of the 1960s, to be a female college athlete in the 1970s, or to enroll at UCLA as an economically disadvantaged Latina in the 1990s.

Thelin even stretches the usual bounds of documentary sources, incorporating popular pieces by Robert Benchley and James Thurber on their own college days as well as an excerpt from Groucho Marx's screwball film Horse Feathers . What emerges is a complex and nuanced collection that reflects the richness of more than three centuries of American higher education.

Related Books

John R. Thelin foreword by Michael A. Olivas

Jennie C. Stephens

edited by Maggie Debelius, Joshua Kim, and Edward Maloney

Doris Iarovici, MD

For those with an interest in higher education, whether a graduate student, a researcher, or a faculty member, this is a fascinating book... The work provides a wealth of useful information that will find regular use in academic libraries. It is highly recommended.

The primary purpose of this collection is to provide illustrative material for the readers of the textbook, but because of the nature of the documents, the book is of interest in its own right.

John Thelin is the ideal scholar to create this volume of documents, and not only because his careful scholarship in creating A History has given him a depth that few other senior scholars possess. He is also an acute scholar of archival issues, as is apparent in the introduction to this book and in his short introductions to each of the documents. By commenting on the template of questions he employs in reviewing each document, he demonstrates—and teaches his readers—a thoughtful approach to assessing and analyzing documentary materials. His own writing about those archival issues (cited in the new volume) is a testament to his leadership in helping our field assess its status and the issues surrounding documentation.

The history of American higher education has been shaped by a great number and variety of actors and influences, each of which is ably represented and explained in Thelin's compendium Essential Documents . The volume is more than a handy reference guide for the library's or the professor's bookshelf; it is a wonderful teaching tool, employing a wide lens, to help develop those studying and writing about the history of American colleges and universities to gain a more complete understanding of these important institutions.

John Thelin's taste in making these selections reflects his extraordinary grasp of American higher education.

Book Details

Acknowledgments for First Edition Acknowledgments for Second Edition Introduction to First Edition Introduction to Second Edition 1. Colleges in the Colonial Era 1.1. Town and Gown: Anthony Wood's "Riot

Acknowledgments for First Edition Acknowledgments for Second Edition Introduction to First Edition Introduction to Second Edition 1. Colleges in the Colonial Era 1.1. Town and Gown: Anthony Wood's "Riot at Oxford" 1.2. A College Charter in the Colonial Era: The College of Rhode Island (1764) 1.3. A College's Laws and Code of Conduct 1.4. Finances of the Colonial Colleges 2. Creating the "American Way" in Higher Education: College Building, 1785 to 186 0 2.1. A Charter for a New State University: The University of Georgia Charter (1785) 2.2. Founding State Universities: The Great Bicentennial Debate, 1785 to 1985 2.3. Philanthropy and Student Financial Aid: The American Education Society (1815) 2.4. Higher Education for Women: Charter for Mount-Holyoke Female Seminary (1836) 2.5. College Presidents and Their Students: Thomas R. Dew's Address before the Students of the College of William and Mary (1836) 3. Diversity of Adversity: Resilience in American Higher Education, 1860 to 1890 3.1. Federal Land Grant Legislation: The Morrill Act of 1862 3.2. Student Memoir: Lyman C. Bagg's Four Years at Yale (1871) 3.3. Federal Land Grant Legislation: The Second Morrill Act of 1890 3.4. Stephen J. Wright on the Historical Background and Future Prospects of Black Colleges and Universities (1987) 3.5. College Admissions and Student Consumerism: "The Oldest and Cheapest College in the South" (1892) 4. Captains of Industry and Erudition: University Builders, 1880 to 1910 4.1. Edwin Slosson on Great American Universities in 1910 4.2. Reforming Medical Education: Abraham Flexner's 1910 Report for the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching 4.3. A College Professor's Wife (1905) 4.4. Jesse Brundage Sears's Report on Endowed Universities (1922) 5. Alma Mater: American Goes to College, 1890 to 1920 5.1. Student Memoir: Robert Benchley's "What College Did to Me" (1927) 5.2. The Popular Press and Women's Colleges: Smith College in 1897 5.3. Student Memoir: James Thurber's "University Days" (1933) 5.4. Real Estate Promotion and Colleges: "A College among the Orange Groves" (1920) 5.5. College Sports Reform: Howard J. Savage's 1929 Report for the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching 6. Success and Exces: Expansion and Reforms in Higher Education, 1920 to 1945 6.1. Hollywood and Higher Education: The Marx Brothers Go to College (1932) 6.2. Student Memoir: John Kenneth Galbraith on Graduate School at Berkeley in the 1930s (1968) 6.3. Federal Student Financial Aid: The GI Bill of 1944 6.4. The Federal Government and Sponsored Research: Vannevar Bush's 1945 Report, Science: The Endless Frontier 6.5. Higher Education for American Democracy: The 1947 Truman Commission Report 7. Gilt by Assocation: Higher Education's "Golden Age," 1945 to 1970 7.1. Coeducation and Student Life: Rules and Regulations for Women in Higher Education in 1955–56 7.2. The 1960 California Master Plan for Postsecondary Education 7.3. Racial Desegregation at State Universities: Commemorative Plaque at the University of Mississippi 7.4. Student Memoir: Jackie Jensen as the "Student-Athlete" following World War II (1970) 7.5. Campus Unrest and Student Protest: Mario Savio's "Put Your Bodies upon the Gears" Speech at Sproul Plaza, University of California, Berkeley (1964) 7.6. Student Memoir: Steven Kelman on Political Activism at Harvard from 1966 to 1970 (1982) 8. Coming of Age in America: Higher Education as a Trouble Giant, 1970 to 2000 8.1. The Campus Condition: The 1971 Newman Report on Higher Education 8.2. Federal Student Financial Aid: Basic Educational Opportunity Grants Program (Pell Grants) from the 1972 Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965 8.3. Missions and Functions of Community Colleges: The 1981 Report of the California Postsecondary Education Commission 8.4. The Changing Profile of College Students in the 1980s 8.5. Student Memoir: Rosa Maria Pegueros, "Todos Vuelven: From Potrero Hill to UCLA" (1995) 8.6. College Sports Reform: The 1991 Knight Commission Report 9. A New Life Begins? Reconfigured Higher Education in the Twenty-First Centry 9.1. College Spending in a Turbulent Decade: Findings from the Delta Cost Project, 2000–2010 9.2. Curriculum and the Culture of a Campus: A Clash between Students and the President at the University of Chicago (1999) 9.3. Faculty Memoir: A Conversation with Professor Laura Nader (2000) 9.4. College Sports Reform: The Problems of Presidents and Rising Expenses in the Knight Commission Report of 2010 9.5. European Expansion of Higher Education: The Bologna Process (1999) 9.6. Higher Education: A New Life Begins 10. Prominence and Problems: American Higher Education since 2010 10.1. Philanthropy and Prestige: Stanford University Sets a Record with Its Five-Year Fund-Raising Campaign (2012) 10.2. Paying for College: Student Federal Loan Debt Reaches $1.5 Trillion (2019) 10.3. The Changing Academic Workforce: Professors in the Gig Economy (2018) 10.4. Colleges and Congress: Federal Legislation on Taxing College Endowments (2017) 10.5. Campus Monuments and Memorials: Recognizing Race and the Dedication of the Richard T. Greener Statue at the University of South Carolina (2018) 10.6. Commercialism and College Sports on Trial: Intercollegiate Athletics as a Business (2015) 10.7. Higher Education and the Courts: The Rise of Purposive Organizations (2013) 10.8. Equity and Inclusion: Title IX and Sex Discrimination since 1972 (2015) 10.9. Campus Crises: Institutions Respond to the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020 Credits Index

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Unpacking the History of Higher Education in the United States

Professional development program type, professional development program audience.

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240-485-7933; 703-993-2310

This 4-week summer institute (1 residential week; 3 virtual weeks) is designed for faculty, advanced doctoral students, librarians, and archivists who teach or support courses on the history of higher education in the United States. Project scholars will introduce research on a range of topics — including why history matters, student activism, internationalization, community colleges, women, normal schools, policy, popular culture, slavery, HBCUs, HSIs, Tribal Colleges, and town-gown relationships — during interactive workshops. A robust Open Educational Resource (OER) on the history of higher education will facilitate teaching and learning nationally and participants will conduct research and contribute to this OER.

Project Director(s)

Lecturers and visiting faculty.

American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC); Christian Anderson; Nidia Bañuelos; LaNitra Berger; Stefan Bradley; Nancy Bristow; Erich Dietrich; Erin Doran; Lynn Eaton; Mary Jo Tippeconic Fox; Brian Greenwald; Jim Grossman; Michael Hevel; Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU); Carrie Kisker; Anne Kress; Wendi Manuel Scott; Margaret Nash; Emily Norweg; Chris Ogren; Meredith Peruzzi; Ethan Ris; Pauline Reynolds; Adam Rothman; Kate Rousmaniere; Bob Vay; Joy Williamson-Lott; Jon Zimmerman

Grantee Institution

Funded through the Division of Education Programs

The Online and Professional Education Association

Ray Schroeder is Professor Emeritus, Associate Vice Chancellor for Online Learning at the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) and Senior Fellow at UPCEA. Each year, Ray publishes and presents nationally on emerging topics in online and technology-enhanced learning. Ray’s social media publications daily reach more than 12,000 professionals. He is the inaugural recipient of the A. Frank Mayadas Online Leadership Award, recipient of the University of Illinois Distinguished Service Award, the United States Distance Learning Association Hall of Fame Award, and the American Journal of Distance Education/University of Wisconsin Wedemeyer Excellence in Distance Education Award 2016.

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A leader in implementing evidence-based programs

Thursday, Apr 25, 2024 • Cristal Gonzalez : contact

The University of Texas at Arlington has chosen to become a leadership partner with Excelencia in Education, the nation’s premier authority on efforts to accelerate Latino student success in higher education, in releasing a compilation of evidence-based programs that improve higher educational achievement for Latino and other students.

The compilation, “ Advancing What Works to Intentionally Serve Latino Students: Opportunities for Action – 2024 ,” emphasizes cultural responsiveness and asset-based approaches to serving Latinos, as well as other post-traditional students, in five key areas:

• Engagement to Prepare Students and Families in College
• First-Year Experiences Building Strong Foundations for Success
• Bilingualism Enhancing Academic and Career Connections
• Experiences and Partnerships Building Career Pathways
• Gender-Based Learning Communities to Support Success

“Excelencia increases awareness of programs that work for Latino students with the understanding that what serves our students ultimately serves our country,” said Deborah Santiago, co-founder and CEO of Excelencia. “The trailblazing institutions supporting the compilation know asset-based approaches and evidence-based practices are crucial to intentionally serving Latino students and show there is no excuse for inaction.”

UTA is one of 24 colleges and universities across the country supporting the release to inspire and support educators, community leaders, funders, and policymakers to replicate and bring to scale data-informed practices that work for Latinos in higher education.

UTA President Jennifer Cowley belongs to Excelencia’s national network of Presidents for Latino Student Success (P4LSS), composed of over 190 postsecondary leaders from 27 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. Together, colleges and universities in this network—which represents only 6% of institutions yet enrolls 33% and graduates 35% of all Latino students—are transforming higher education.

“America’s future is brighter with the talents of Latinos,” said Sarita Brown, co-founder and president of Excelencia. “Excelencia brings national attention to these effective efforts advancing students’ higher education journeys with 24 college and university presidents and chancellors who serve as leaders for Latino student success. By sharing information and supporting replication, we build momentum for institutional transformation that accelerates Latino student success and thus grows our civic leadership and future workforce.

UTA leads Excelencia’s network as one of only 39 colleges and universities to have earned the Seal of Excelencia, a national certification for institutions that strive to go beyond enrollment to intentionally serve Latino students. Seal-certified institutions represent less than 1% of colleges and universities yet enroll 15% and graduate 17% of all Latino students. They also lead the way by implementing evidence-based practices that ensure Latino students thrive on their campuses.

Through this partnership and the P4LSS network, Cowley and UTA will continue collaborating with Excelencia, leveraging collective expertise and resources, fostering working relationships, and amplifying current efforts at the national level to accelerate Latino student success and ensure America’s future with the talent of Latino students.

To learn more about “Advancing What Works to Intentionally Serve Latino Students: Opportunities for Action – 2024,” visit EdExcelencia.org/advancing-what-works-latino-students-2024 .

About Excelencia in Education

In 2024, Excelencia in Education marks 20 years of service to accelerate Latino student success in higher education by promoting Latino student achievement, conducting analysis to inform educational policies, advancing institutional practices, and collaborating with those committed and ready to meet the mission. Launched in 2004 in the nation’s capital, Excelencia has established a network of results-oriented educators and policymakers to address the U.S. economy’s needs for a highly educated workforce and engaged civic leaders. For more information, visit EdExcelencia.org.

About The University of Texas at Arlington

The University of Texas at Arlington, located in the heart of the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metroplex, is a comprehensive teaching, research, and public service institution dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through scholarship and creative work. The University is committed to providing access and ensuring student success, and to a culture of innovation, entrepreneurship, and commercialization of discoveries by our community of scholars. With an enrollment of approximately 41,000 students, UTA is the second-largest institution in the UT System.