TY - BOOK ID - 77871639 TI - All the essential half-truths about higher education PY - 1998 SN - 1281223883 9786611223885 0226616584 9780226616582 0226616541 9780226616544 9780226616582 PB - Chicago : University of Chicago Press, DB - UniCat KW - Education, Higher KW - Universities and colleges KW - higher education, college, university, institutions, success, ambition, faculty, tenure, academic freedom, administration, diversity, distribution, curriculum, liberal arts, pedagogy, purpose, poverty, equality, social justice, morality, value, class, mobility, management, mission, money, retention, graduation, career, nonfiction, endowment, business model. UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:77871639 AB - In this refreshing and original exploration, George Dennis O'Brien looks at higher education in America. O'Brien argues that to debate intelligently the future of education we must stop focusing on its ideals and look instead at its institutions. He does this by addressing nine half-truths, such as whether "low cost public education benefits the least advantaged in society," and goes on to examine how accurately they reflect the true state of higher education. The result is a thought-provoking discussion of the present challenges and future prospects of American higher education. "O'Brien's historical overview of the transition from 19th-century denominational colleges to 20th-century research-driven and largely secular ones is provocative. Cleverly written and well-focused, the book addresses the financial pressures facing higher education and asks vital questions about cutbacks and curricula."-Publishers Weekly "Lively, engaging, and richly suggestive." -Francis Oakley, Commonweal "O'Brien employs calm, powerful reason, without sensationalism. His perspective is illuminating. . . . All the Essential Half-Truths About Higher Education is one of the wisest and most useful treatments of American higher education." -John Attarian, Detroit News ER -