The conditions for admission : access, equity, and the social contract of public universities / John Aubrey Douglass.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Douglass, John Aubrey.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Public universities and colleges--United States--Admission.

Public universities and colleges.

Educational equalization--United States.

Educational equalization.

United States.

Physical Description:

xiv, 332 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Other Title:

Access, equity, and the social contract of public universities

Place of Publication:

Stanford, Calif. : Stanford University Press, 2007.

Summary:

The progressive idea that any citizen who meets specified academic conditions can gain entry to their state university has profoundly shaped American society. This book offers the first comprehensive examination of admission policies and practices at public universities. Using the University of California, the nation's largest public research university and among its most selective, as an illuminating case study, it explores historical and contemporary debates over affirmative action, gender, class, standardized testing, the growing influences of privatization and globalization, and indeed the very purpose and future of these important public institutions.

The United States has been the world leader in developing mass higher education, using its pioneering network of public universities to promote socioeconomic mobility and national economic competitiveness. But the author warns that access and graduation rates have stagnated and may even be declining, particularly among younger students. Other countries, including key members of the European Union, along with China, India, and other developing nations, are aggressively reshaping and expanding their higher education systems. The "American advantage" of a high-quality and high-access higher education system is waning. The closing chapters explore why this is the case and the consequences within an increasingly competitive global economy.

Contents:

Part I Building a Public University and Creating the Social Contract 1

1 The Public University Movement and California 3

2 Building a Higher Education System and Broadening Access 31

3 Inclusion, Exclusion, and the Issue of Race 46

Part II The Managerial University and the Post-World War II Era 77

4 The Master Plan, the SAT, and Managing Demand 79

5 Countervailing Forces: Standardized Testing and Affirmative Action 93

6 For Every Action a Reaction: Race, Bakke, and the Social Contract Revisited 120

Part III Modern Battles over Equity, Affirmative Action, and Testing 149

7 California's Affirmative-Action Fight 151

8 The First Aftermath: Outreach and Comprehensive Review 184

9 The Second Aftermath: President Atkinson Versus the SAT 214

Part IV Whither the Social Contract? The Postmodern World and the Primacy of Higher Education 235

10 Perils and Opportunities: Autonomy, Merit, and Privatization 237

11 The Waning of America's Higher Education Advantage 261.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 293-322) and index.

ISBN:

9780804755580

0804755582

9780804755597

0804755590

OCLC:

76925195