The definitive history of American higher education―now up to date. Colleges and universities are among the most cherished―and controversial―institutions in the United States. In this updated edition of A History of American Higher Education , John R. Thelin offers welcome perspective on the triumphs and crises of this highly influential sector in American life. Exploring American higher education from its founding in the seventeenth century to its struggle to innovate and adapt in the first decades of the twenty-first century, Thelin demonstrates that the experience of going to college has been central to American life for generations of students and their families. Drawing from archival research, along with the pioneering scholarship of leading historians, Thelin raises profound questions about what colleges are―and what they should be. Covering issues of social class, race, gender, and ethnicity in each era and chapter, this new edition showcases a fresh concluding chapter that focuses on both the opportunities and problems American higher education has faced since 2010. The essay on sources has been revised to incorporate books and articles published over the past decade. The book also updates the discussion of perennial hot-button issues such as big-time sports programs, online learning, the debt crisis, the adjunct crisis, and the return of the culture wars and addresses current areas of contention, including the changing role of governing boards and the financial challenges posed by the economic downturn. Anyone studying the history of this institution in America must read Thelin's classic text, which has distinguished itself as the most wide-ranging and engaging account of the origins and evolution of America's institutions of higher learning. The thing about any John Thelin book―including this timely revision of his masterwork―is that it will be deeply researched, thoughtfully organized, and beautifully written. His synthetic range of resources is astounding, and you can almost taste the popcorn at the football games and touch the ivy on the buildings. ―Michael A. Olivas, University of Houston Law Center, author of Suing Alma Mater: Higher Education and the Courts John Thelin's new edition of his comprehensive and balanced history of American higher education makes an important contribution to students and to scholars. Culminating in his new chapter on the 2010s, this is the most up-to-date such history now available. ―Bruce A. Kimball, Ohio State University, author of The Liberal Arts Tradition: A Documentary History John Thelin's A History of American Higher Education sets the foundation for discussions of colleges and universities in the United States. Thelin has spent years delving into archives and engaging literature to tell a fascinating and lively story of higher education. His humor, engaging writing, and vast knowledge make history come alive for the readers and he pushes them to consider the historical foundations of the current issues, scandals, challenges, and successes within the higher education context. ―Marybeth Gasman, University of Pennsylvania, coauthor of Educating a Diverse Nation: Lessons from Minority-Serving Institutions In this new edition, Thelin masterfully examines continuities and challenges across centuries of American higher education, exploring purposes, access, funding, governance, equity, and student life. He concludes by probing how twenty-first-century economic, demographic, and legal developments are affecting―and sometimes unsettling―basic institutional principles and commitments. ―Linda Eisenmann, Wheaton College, author of Higher Education for Women in Postwar America, 1945–1965 Thelin offers an historical analysis of contemporary trends and issues in higher education today, e.g., access, affordability, accountability, and assessment. How colleges addressed those issues within different periods of time and societal contexts makes for a more enlightened image of higher education in the US as it exists today. ― Choice Fills a real need in the scholarship . . . Accessible and informative, providing a reasonable foundation on which to build a rich understanding of the development of American higher education. ― Register of the Kentucky Historical Society Destined to be the standard work in this area for years to come. ― Journal of College Student Development Despite its age, Rudolph's single-volume history has endured . . . Now John Thelin's A History of American Higher Education provides a worthy replacement. ― History of Education Quarterly This is a splendid book, by far the best to appear on the subject since the 1962 publication of Frederick Rudolph's The American College and University: A History . John Thelin's work will supplant Rudolph's as the dominant overview of the history of American higher education. Comprehensive but not encyclopedic, Thelin's account is interspersed with lively anecdotes and a creative emphasis on cul