Higher Education? - Andrew Hacker & Claudia Dreifus

Higher Education?

By Andrew Hacker & Claudia Dreifus

  • Release Date: 2010-08-03
  • Genre: Education
Score: 3.5
3.5
From 14 Ratings

Description

What's gone wrong at our colleges and universities—and how to get American higher education back on track

A quarter of a million dollars. It's the going tab for four years at most top-tier universities. Why does it cost so much and is it worth it?

Renowned sociologist Andrew Hacker and New York Times writer Claudia Dreifus make an incisive case that the American way of higher education, now a $420 billion-per-year business, has lost sight of its primary mission: the education of young adults. Going behind the myths and mantras, they probe the true performance of the Ivy League, the baleful influence of tenure, an unhealthy reliance on part-time teachers, and the supersized bureaucracies which now have a life of their own.

As Hacker and Dreifus call for a thorough overhaul of a self-indulgent system, they take readers on a road trip from Princeton to Evergreen State to Florida Gulf Coast University, revealing those faculties and institutions that are getting it right and proving that teaching and learning can be achieved—and at a much more reasonable price.

Reviews

  • Rambling truth

    3
    By Joshua YOUNG
    It is no lie that there are issues with our edjukation system. This book did a great job at exploring the reason for these problems and explaining where our money is going. The book however is drawn out, and in some ways targeted at fellow staff and not the students or parents. Good recommendation Colbert Bump!
  • Great Read

    5
    By Johnnyy
    Very easy to read, sharp points, and agreeable stand points. Definitely a must have for iPad readers.

Comments