Higher Education in America

Abstract

HIGHER EDUCATION IN AMERICA BOK, D. 2013. PRINCETON: PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS. 479 PP.Reviewed by Matthew FifoltHigher Education in America is a compelling and comprehensive overview of the systems, structures, and relevant issues in higher education in the United States. Written in a straightforward and authoritative style, Bok discusses the nature and scope of u.s. higher education and describes the strengths and potential vulnerabilities of a system that encompasses such differing institutions as community colleges, research universities, and for-profit institutions.Modeling the principles of scientific inquiry, the author frames the text with the following key questions:* How vigorously are u.s. universities responding to their emerging problems and opportunities?* Which of the many criticisms of u.s. higher education institutions' activities are truly valid, and which are unfounded or highly exaggerated?* What can u.s. colleges do to improve their performance, and how can such reforms best be brought about? (Bok Z013, p. 4)In each section of the book, Bok provides evidence to support or refute claims relevant to these primary questions. The sections are broad in scope and cover the context of higher education (e.g, its history, purposes, and governance) as well as the concepts of undergraduate and graduate education; professional education; research; and conclusions.Bok notes that as the education system in the United States has evolved, colleges and universities have codified the tripartite mission of higher education to include teaching, research, and service. More recently, a number of schools have added economic development as an accompanying institutional aim. The author acknowledges that colleges and universities can have multiple and complementary goals and that it is, indeed, inevitable that they do given the complex nature of the modern multiversity (Kerr 1963).Yet Bok cautions higher education leaders against taking on initiatives that divert their efforts from achieving their institutions' established mission and goals. Specifically, he regards the variety of institutions that comprise the u.s. education system as one of its greatest strengths and therefore recommends that institutions strive to do what they do well rather than succumb to the pressure to become something they are not (e.g, community colleges aspiring to become four-year institutions, four-year institutions aspiring to become comprehensive institutions, etc.).Despite the challenges associated with maintaining a disparate and distributed system, Bok suggests that the values and norms that define the academic community are core strengths of the education enterprise in the United States. Across institutional type, these values and norms provide a framework for defining responsibilities, establishing principles that guide behavior, delimiting individual actions, setting mutual expectations, and resolving differences of opinion.In persuasive and potentially controversial statements, the author encourages college and university leaders to divest themselves of all activities that others could do as well or better, including ownership of teaching hospitals and activation of programs designed for the sole purpose of generating revenue. Bok notes that these endeavors are often costly and complicated and can lead to unforeseen consequences that ultimately discredit the institution. Further, non-essential activities frequently consume the time and energy of education leaders yet do little to strengthen the core mission of the institution.Bok is especially critical of intercollegiate athletics programs, which he calls "a flagrant example of universities sacrificing academic standards in the pursuit of profit" (p. 351). In fact, given the current state of competition, intercollegiate athletics could easily be considered antithetical to higher education. Yet the author reluctantly admits that "the cost of abandoning a high profile sport-in both practical and political terms-is now too great for the colleges involved to contemplate" (p. …