History
Grutter v. Bollinger & Gratz v. Bollinger (2003)
that "student body diversity is a compelling state interest that can justify the use of race in university admission"
• Oberlin College 1833
- first college to enroll women & black students (1842) • Sparked social reform. • Began the equalitarian philosophy of the democratization of higher ed. • Prior to Oberlin College, higher education was not seen as providing a social obligation.
• Higher Education Act 1965
- increased federal money given to universities, created scholarships, gave low interest loans to students
• Civil Rights Act 1964
- led to rapid desegregation; affirmative action increased • Brought together the strands of desegregation effort by authorizing federal power to be brought to bear on the right of all people to vote, use public facilities, and gain jobs according to their ability Although this act was not directly created for education, has had a tremendous impact or access to higher education. The act stipulates that it is unlawful to discriminate against someone because of their gender or race, by denying them a job/opportunity that they would be qualified to carry out. This has impacted and helped lead to several provisions at institutions of higher learning and has implications for the faculty and staff at institutions. Later acts, such as the Higher Education Act of 1965, stipulated that institutions must employ the same percentages of minorities as their student body.
• Serviceman's Readjustment Act (GI Bill), 1944
- offered by the government; biggest scholarship amount, • Eliminated discriminatory practices; more students went to college; impacted the types of students that went to college
• Dartmouth College Case 1819
- the government could not interfere with the charter; allows for a free market Limited states' power of private colleges Legitimized the private sector Allowed a free and open market for colleges In the immediate sense, the case helped contribute to the massive amounts of colleges that were created during the Emergent Nation Period as anyone could create a college and it would be guaranteed that the institution would be free from government interference. The effects of the case still have relevance today because of the large variety in types of institutions available to students.
Fisher v. University of Texas
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Sample Q1: analyze the significant impact of four major historical events (or 4 major milestones in access) upon the development of higher education in the United States.
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Sample Q2: The history of U.S. higher education can be told as a story of ongoing tensions and conflicts, such as: general vs. specialized education, access vs. quality (elite vs. egalitarian), private vs. public, and prescription vs. choice. Describe/ explain two of these major tensions; trace their historical development, identifying defining moments and critical actors related to each and explaining their relevance; and analyze the present status of each tension/ conflict in the national higher education context.
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Sample Q4: discuss in detail what you see as the most significant, ongoing curricular "battle" in American higher education's history. What were/ are the issues being fought over? What was/ is at stake? Who were/ are the main "combatants"? When and where were the most important "battles" fought? Were/ are there clear winners and losers? If the "war" is still raging, is the outcome predictable?
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• Harvard, 1636
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In your opinion, who (person or group) made the greatest contribution to higher education? Describe your choice and give reasons for your choice.
Charles Eliot, with his creation and push for the elective principle has made the greatest contribution to higher education. He began to set the standard for how college/university presidents should respond to the wants and needs of students and society at any given point in time. When he was President at Harvard, he pushed for the Elective Principle to increase interest in higher education in a system with a prescribed curriculum that students found to be stultifying and unimaginative. Overall, the introduction of the elective and the principle of choice for students in their curriculum has helped to shape the purpose of institutions overall. Institutions should serve the needs of students and allow them to have choice in the system that they (and their families) are investing their time and money into.
• Elective Principle 1869
Charles Eliot- freedom to pick their own path of study • Philosophy to respect individual differences • Suggested equal weight to different courses. • Contemporary relevance: genesis of academic departments and academic majors and minors. Students can now customize their course of study. • Criticism: o Concerns about increased secularism and extreme specialization. o It would be possible escape without learning anything at all by a judicious selection of unrelated topics. Students would choose courses simply because they were easy or because the material was light.
• Yale Report 1828-
made the case for the liberal education; rejecting professional education • Argued the need to keep the trivium and quadrivium. • If you lack a core curriculum (liberal arts), your students will be poorly educated. • It is important for students to study a variety of topics (in both the trivium and quadrivium) in order to exercise all parts of their brains. • Curriculum is meant "to provide the discipline (expand powers of mental faculties) and furniture (fill the mind with knowledge) of the mind" • The report provided justification to smaller schools straddling liberal arts and experimental science while still holding to classical studies. • Contemporary relevance: o Still have core curriculums today, but it paved the way for parallel courses of study. o Now we have the opportunity to select majors and minors while still completing a core curriculum.
Creation of Howard University and other HBCUs
1860s- Congress created Howard especially for the purpose of educating Black Americans. This, along with the creation of other historically black institutions such as Tuskegee and Fisk, helped to offer similar educational opportunities to African Americans. As the history of education for African Americans at this time had not been at all equal to those available to whites (including primary/grade school), these institutions helped to level the playing field as Blacks were given the opportunity to learn in institutions that offered them unique opportunities. Even today, the presence of HBCUs provides unique learning opportunities to African Americans as well as other students not readily available at Predominantly White Institutions.
Affirmative Action
1960s- students cannot be denied admission to an institution based on their racial identity or gender. In fact, Affirmative Action has helped to offer more opportunity by evening the societal scales in the sense that underrepresented students (both in the general sense, as well as for a particular program) are given more consideration in the admissions process at a college or university.
• Thomas Jefferson (UVA)
1st State College, no attachment to church 1824-1825
Why were many more colleges founded in the Emergent Nation Period?
Besides those already mentioned, the U.S. government played a large hand in creation of many different colleges. When the Constitution was ratified prior to the beginning of the period in 1788, there had been no mention of education, so there was no national university established by the government. There was also no governing board to regulate colleges, and the Dartmouth Case of 1819 added to this as the ruling established that the state could not regulate a privately founded or owned entity. Due to this, many private colleges were able to be created. Lastly, the government gave land to states to be used in the creation of colleges so that each state could have their own institution.
Compare and contrast the contributions and significance of the Morrill Land-Grant Acts and the GI Bill to higher education
Both provided greater access to students and changed the entire landscape of higher ed by creating more interest in attending college. The Morrill Land Grant Acts, by stipulating that colleges had to include practical curriculum, appealed to students that intended to work within agriculture or mechanical fields, areas which had not previously been part of college curriculum. At the time that the first act was established in the Emergent Nation period, interest in colleges had waned and the mass expansion of colleges resulted in schools struggling with low enrollments. Society began to see colleges as more useful as a result of the added practical curriculum from the Land Grant Colleges and it was the beginning of the federal government and the public taking a strong interest in higher education. ii. The GI Bill also created renewed interest in higher ed. During the Mass Higher Education Era, there was also a contribution to the expansion of enrollments as a result of this bill, similar to the results of the Morrill Land Grant Acts. However, unlike the 2nd Land Grant Act of 1890 which was a proponent for separate but equal, the GI Bill offered full access to veteran students, regardless of ethnicity. The GI Bill, although the money wound up going to institutions, was scholarship money given directly to the veterans, whereas the Morrill Land Grant Acts gave money to states to create institutions themselves. The institutions were the change agents there as opposed to the actual students filling the seats as with the GI Bill. -Both pieces of legislation were not directly intended to shape education- the Morrill Land Grant Act was passed as a way to sell land whereas the GI Bill was passed to help veterans integrate better into US society after being overseas.
Discuss which one had the greatest impact on higher education: Morrill Land Grant Act or the GI BIll?
Morrill Land Grant Acts have had the most significant impact. When they were created in the 1800s, they renewed interest in education and marked a turning point at which the public became more interested in a college education. Not only did it incorporate public support for institutions, but it showed students and their families that everyone could benefit from a college education- whether you wanted to study the classics or theoretical areas, or if you wanted to study something more vocational in nature. In fact, many institutions that had been created through this act still exist today and continue to serve the public, seeing it as their duty to serve the people of their state.
What and when was the Dartmouth College Case? b. What was the significance then? c. What are the effects on contemporary higher education/today?
The Dartmouth College Case happened in 1819, and was a case which was decided by the Supreme Court in which it was decided that the state could not interfere with the business of a private corporation. At the time, it allowed private colleges to develop without worry of their affairs being dictated or taken over by the states. The result is that many private colleges were established during the emergent nation period (1790-1869). The result today is that not only are many of the private colleges still around, but all private colleges today still have the freedom to run themselves, free of government control. They do not have to act in accordance to the state legislatures, as public universities do within all aspects.
What and when was the Yale Report? What was the significance then? What are the effects on contemporary higher education/today?
The Yale Report was released by Yale in 1828 to defend the classics. It came at a time when education was shifting to be more practical and utilitarian. The Yale Report made an argument for the importance of a prescribed curriculum, utilizing the liberal arts as they believed education should be sought after for ethical, and not purely utilitarian, purposes. The report took a staunch opposition to professional subjects being offered within a college, as the authors didn't feel they had a place. It also said that without the liberal arts, education would be much too specialized and students would not be able to develop the different parts of their brain and learn how to reason. In 1828, the Yale Report was significant because it established the need for general education and made sure that the classics remained part of the curriculum. Today, the effects of the Yale Report are still evident as 30% or so of the current curriculum are general education requirements and students now complete majors with prescribed general courses. There are also still arguments for the need of a liberal education, to help teach students how to think critically, and not just in a specialized fashion.
Which of the first four periods in history (the earliest four as characterized by Cohen) do you consider to have the most influence on higher education today?
University Transformation Era= characteristics of students were changing during this period to include women, minorities and students from all socioeconomic status. -curriculum saw drastic changes with the passing of both of the Morrill Land Grant Acts, infusing more practical and vocational courses. -This change in curriculum as well as the other reforms related to access among race and gender helped to show that higher education had something to offer everyone. -In the 1920s, when admissions criteria began to alter, Columbia was first institution to require that students submit recommendation letters, personal aspirations, etc. in their applications for admission. Most schools, particularly highly selective institutions, still use these items in their admission consideration. -Creation of standardized tests like the SAT in the 1920s. The importance of this test has grown immensely since the beginning of the 20th century. The test can now qualify or disqualify a student for scholarship money, qualify or disqualify a student for admission to a university, as well as factor into the rankings of colleges and universities based on the average scores of the students they admit.
At what point in history did we see the greatest shifts in characteristics of students and what was responsible for the changes?
University Transformation Period= women & African Americans had greater access to college bc of Oberlin College which admitted students regardless of race, gender or religion. -Greater access was also seen bc of slavery ending in 1865 and the creation of HBCUs- Howard, Tuskegee and Fisk. Although these reforms were made during the Emergent Nation Period, there were greater enrollments of students of both genders and multiple ethnicities in the University Transformation Period as a result. -Mass Higher Education Era= Serviceman's Readjustment Act, or GI Bill in 1944. Veterans who were returning from service were attending college in record numbers due to the scholarship money provided and changed the demographics of students- they tended to be older, and initially in the beginning of the period there was an influx of male students. There were also greater numbers of blacks and Jews attending PSE. The GI Bill helped many Americans who had not previously considered college as an option to get a college education.
What role did Oberlin College play in the evolution of higher education? How does it affect contemporary issues in higher education/today?
When Oberlin College was established in 1833, the faculty pushed for open access and for a move of democratization. Oberlin College was the first to accept women as well as African Americans. Although there may have been another college to provide more access and accept women and people of all races, it is significant that Oberlin College did so because it accelerated the access of institutions. Due to the accessibility of Oberlin College two centuries ago, there are now more women at many institutions than men, and all institutions enroll students of different races. It has resulted in a more accessible landscape for higher education.
Sample Q3: Offer a critical overview of the history of expanding access and inclusion. Where are we now? Where did we start? What were the most important milestones? Setbacks? Advances? Have we arrived at the end point?
When higher education first got its start in the United States in the Colonial and Revolutionary Era, it was very exclusive, only available to white, privileged males. However, each era brought along changes to the student body, to institutions and helped to change the overall picture of higher education. Slowly but surely education became available to more and more students, in regards to gender, racial/ethnic background, family socioeconomic background and interest of study. Throughout most of the Emergent Nation Period, students were still primarily male, from affluent families for the most part that could afford to temporarily lose the labor of their sons while they obtained their education, and students tended to still be young and needing discipline.
What do you consider to be an ongoing problem/issue (excluding access) in higher education? How has it evolved over the eras? What is its current status?
a. Debate over the value of a liberal education over what is seen as "practical." important that the integration of vocational studies and practical curriculum has increased interest in higher education overall, it is concerning when public leaders place large emphasis on practical curriculum. It seems this has always been a large issue as institutions have struggled to maintain their classical and liberal arts focus, while still appealing to those looking for the practical curriculum. Unfortunately, learning for the sake of learning is a very difficult argument to make to continue using liberal studies. It is encouraging, however that there have been numerous reports, including those from employers in the Contemporary Era that have touted the importance of a liberal education and how much they value employees that have strongly developed critical thinking skills, as this is something that is more difficult to teach than actual trade skills. I believe it is the duty of institutions and higher education as a whole to adapt to societal needs, as it has always done and will need to continue to wage the war as both practical and liberal/classical studies seem to be in demand, depending on what fields students are going into. Reports from college presidents, according to The View From the Top, published by the Chronicle of Higher Education, discussed how college presidents realize the value of experiential education and the ability for students to obtain a job after graduating from their institutions. Currently, colleges and universities publish the percentage of their graduates which go on to get a job within six months to a year after graduation, and this shows the continued emphasis on "practical" education.
Discuss the role/s the U.S. Federal Government has played in higher education over time - focusing briefly on critical laws, policies, programs, and/ or events - and evaluate the impact/influence it has had.
a.Emergent Nation Period= contributed to the large numbers of institutions being created in America by not mentioning higher education in the constitution, not creating a ministry of education, and from the Supreme Court's decision in the Dartmouth College vs. Woodward case of 1819. Each of these aspects resulted in a lack of governmental influence and regulation in the creation of colleges, meaning that many colleges formed during this time with no accrediting agency to provide guidelines for how they should operate. b. Morrill Land Grant Act of 1890 began to provide some access as it would only provide money and land to schools that did not deny students on the basis of race unless they also created separate but equal facilities for these students. c. Congress created Howard especially for the education of African Americans, helping to provide access as the higher education landscape was moving continually toward broader access for students of all races. d. GI Bill. Although not intended specifically to support higher education, it forever changed institutions as 3 times the number of veterans that were expected to enroll actually attended colleges and universities, utilizing the scholarship benefits they received through the bill.
What were the most important milestones of expanding access and inclusion (at least 5, not including the Morrill Acts and GI Bill) and their contributions?
i. Dartmouth College v. Woodward- 1819 ii. Oberlin College (1833) iii. Creation of Howard and other HBCUs (1850s/1860s) iv. Brown v. Board of Education (1954) v. Civil Rights Act of 1965 vi. Affirmative Action- 1960s vii. Grutter v. Bollinger & Gratz v. Bollinger (2003)
Where are we now in terms of access and expansion of higher ed?
i. While the higher education landscape is undoubtedly much more diverse now and accessible to all people, problems still exist. Now, there are questions as to whether Affirmative Action is still necessary as there have been increases in the number of underrepresented students that are enrolling in college. Some colleges, such as those public institutions in Texas, enroll students based on percentage plans, in which students in the top X percent of their high school graduating class are guaranteed admission to the public universities in the state. Students that fall outside of these percentages are subject to holistic review, and the schools are race-conscious, allowing them to see an applicant's race as they review them for admission. Arguments now center more around providing more access to students regardless of income level and ensuring that students from low socioeconomic statuses or students that are the first in their family to go to college have equal or more consideration in the admissions process. The Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin case which began in 2013 calls into question whether Affirmative Action and race should still be allowed to be used in the admissions consideration.
Morrill Land Grant Act 1862, 1890
o The Morrill Act of 1862 specified that the funds be used to endow at least one college where the major focus was agriculture and the mechanical arts, however, they could not exclude other scientific and classical studies. o 1890-No appropriations went to states that denied admission to the colleges on the basis of race unless they also set up separate but equal facilities
• Brown v. Board of Education, 1954- separate is not equal;
separate is not equal;