Volume 33, Number 2 · February 13, 1986
The Decline of Higher Learning
By Andrew Hacker
BOOKS REVIEWED IN THIS ARTICLE
American Professors
by Howard R. Bowen, by Jack H. Schuster
Oxford University Press, 304 pp., $24.95
The American Academic Profession: A Synthesis of Social Scientific Inquiry Since World War II
by Martin J. Finkelstein
Ohio State University Press, 289 pp., $17.50
None of the Above: Behind the Myth of Scholastic Aptitude
by David Owen
Houghton Mifflin, 327 pp., $16.95
Terminal Degrees: The Job Crisis in Higher Education
by Emily K. Abel
Praeger, 253 pp., $26.95
Liberating Education
by Zelda F. Gamson. associates
Jossey-Bass, 253 pp., $16.95
The Lecherous Professor: Sexual Harassment on Campus
by Billie Wright Dziech, by Linda Weiner
Beacon, 219 pp., $8.95 (paper)
Mastering the Techniques of Teaching
by Joseph Lowman
Jossey-Bass, 245 pp., $18.95
Selective Guide to Colleges
by Edward B. Fiske
Times Books, 583 pp., $10.95
The Zero-Sum Solution: Building a World-Class American Economy
by Lester C. Thurow
Simon and Schuster, 414 pp., $18.95
To Reclaim a Legacy
by William J. Bennett
National Endowment for the Humanities, US Government Printing Office, 44 pp., $2.00
Integrity in the College Curriculum
by Frederick Rudolph. others
Association of American Colleges, 47 pp., $4.00
Involvement in Learning: Realizing the Potential of American Higher Education
National Institute of Education
US Government Printing Office, 99 pp., $4.50
For most people, 'going to college' means four convivial years, with the prospect of higher income and social status. Plus, of course, the hope that pursuing a degree will elevate the mind and spirit. Recently, however, the atmosphere on most campuses has been one of malaise. Moreover, the past year has brought a series of reports on the decline of higher learning, especially in the liberal arts. These studies have not received anything like the attention accorded earlier scrutinies of our elementary and high schools. There the emphasis was on a failure to teach basic skills, resulting in a semiliterate workforce and the blunting of the country's competitive edge. The recent criticism of colleges, serious in its own right, does not cite an equivalent peril.
Review, 8882 words
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