Garland, James C.

Saving Alma Mater: A Rescue Plan for America’s Public Universities.

Uncorrected Page Proof. Chicago / London, University of Chicago Press, 2009. 15 x 23cm. (22), 261 pages. Original softcover. Excellent condition, as new.

America’s public universities educate 80% of the nation’s college students. Here James C. Garland draws on more than thirty years of experience as a professor, administrator, and university president to argue that a new compact between state government and public universities is needed to make these schools more affordable and financially secure. Saving Alma Mater challenges a change-resistant culture in academia that places too low a premium on efficiency and productivity. Seeing a crisis of campus leadership, Garland takes state legislators to task for perpetuating the decay of their public university systems and calls for reforms in the way university presidents and governing boards are selected. He concludes that the era is long past when state appropriations can enable public universities to keep their fees low and affordable. Saving Alma Mater thus calls for the partial deregulation of public universities and a phase-out of their state appropriations. Garland’s plan would tie university revenues to their performance and exploit the competitive pressures of the academic marketplace to control costs, rein in tuition, and make schools more responsive to student needs. [From jacket notes]

• Keywords: America · American Culture · Education · Politics · United States · University
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9780226283869
• Inventory Number: 91271AB

EUR 78,--