HIGHER EDUCATION DIVIDED : national expectations and the bifurcation of purpose and national... identity, 1946-2016

This book critically considers how tertiary institutions of higher education in the United States are charged with the duty of preserving democracy, teaching citizenship literacy, and contributing to economic stability. The author offers a comparative analysis of how presidential and national policy agendas shape these social institutions’ re-creation and re-constitution of ideological identities that influence the social position of the participants in the institution types, creating a divide in the realization of national identity across institutional and class lines. In fulfilling this role, four- and two-year institutions become representations of the social class divisions in the United States as the institutions and their students experience American national identity differently. By answering a call to serve the American public and presidential agendas, institutions of higher education reinforce the economic and social divisions in American society, resulting in varied understandings of American national identity. Preface 6 Acknowledgments 9 Contents 10 List of Figures 12 List of Graphs 13 List of Tables 14 Chapter 1: Introduction: Establishing National Identity and the Purpose of Higher Education in the United States 15 Review of the Literature 16 Neoliberalism and Higher Education 23 Defining the Public 24 Conceptual Framework 25 Methods 27 Data 29 Rationale for Text Selection 33 Two- and Four-Year Institutions Generalized 38 Establishing National Identity and the Role of Higher Education 40 Three Purposes of Higher Education Defined 42 Recontextualizing National Identity and Institutional Purpose 44 The Body of Work 45 References 47 Chapter 2: Preserving and Promoting Democracy: University Demands and the Importance of the Community College in Post-War America, 1946–1953 51 President Truman, 1946–1953 53 Recontextualizing the Identity of the Democratic World Leader 55 Differentiated Expectations After the Second World War 60 Implementation of Purpose 63 Preparing for the Cold War 64 References 64 Chapter 3: Dualities and Challenges: Higher Education in the Heart of the Cold War, 1953–1969 66 President Eisenhower, 1953–1961 67 President Kennedy, 1961–1963 69 President Johnson, 1963–1969 72 Opposing Communism Through Access to Higher Education 74 Combatting Communism 78 Combatting Communism on College Campuses 82 References 82 Chapter 4: Servicing the Public and the Marketplace for National Growth, 1970–1989 85 President Nixon, 1969–1974 86 President Ford, 1974–1977 89 President Carter, 1977–1981 89 President Reagan, 1981–1989 91 Higher Education for the Masses or the Market? 93 Understanding and Responding to Criticism 98 Creating the Market-Responsive Service Institution 101 Preparing for the Final Decade of the Twentieth Century 103 References 103 Chapter 5: Capital Gains and Higher Education: The Entrepreneurial University and the Community College as Facilitator of American Social Mobility in the 1990s 106 President G. H. W. Bush, 1989–1993 107 President Clinton, 1993–2001 109 Redefining Higher Education as a Commodity 113 Embracing Challenge and Change: Adapting to the Demands of a Changing Market 118 Preparing for the Global Market 120 References 121 Chapter 6: Human Capital and Market Commodities: Higher Education’s Role in the Twenty-First Century 123 President G. W. Bush, 2001–2009 124 President Obama, 2009–2017 127 Higher Education in the New Millennium 131 Twenty-First-Century Expectations for Higher Education 136 What Does the Future Hold for Higher Education in America? 138 References 139 Chapter 7: Higher Education in the Era of Trump: Considering the Ambiguous Future of Tertiary Higher Education in a “New American Moment” 142 President Trump: Reducing People to Products 143 Higher Education’s Understanding of the Trump Agenda 146 Looking to the Future 148 Significance and Conclusion 149 References 151 References 152 Index 154 Front Matter ....Pages i-xix Introduction: Establishing National Identity and the Purpose of Higher Education in the United States (Allison L. Palmadessa)....Pages 1-36 Preserving and Promoting Democracy: University Demands and the Importance of the Community College in Post-War America, 1946–1953 (Allison L. Palmadessa)....Pages 37-51 Dualities and Challenges: Higher Education in the Heart of the Cold War, 1953–1969 (Allison L. Palmadessa)....Pages 53-71 Servicing the Public and the Marketplace for National Growth, 1970–1989 (Allison L. Palmadessa)....Pages 73-93 Capital Gains and Higher Education: The Entrepreneurial University and the Community College as Facilitator of American Social Mobility in the 1990s (Allison L. Palmadessa)....Pages 95-111 Human Capital and Market Commodities: Higher Education’s Role in the Twenty-First Century (Allison L. Palmadessa)....Pages 113-131 Higher Education in the Era of Trump: Considering the Ambiguous Future of Tertiary Higher Education in a “New American Moment” (Allison L. Palmadessa)....Pages 133-142 Back Matter ....Pages 143-146