ABSTRACT
Th e basic contours of the American system of higher education have been described oft en enough. Over the last 50 years what has emerged is a complex mix of public, private and for-profi t institutions serving over 18 million students annually. At the apex of the system are the 60 U.S. research universities that hold membership in the Association of American Universities (AAU). Two-thirds of these are public universities, funded by their states and generally considered to be fl agship institutions. Th e remaining third are private, for the most part well-endowed institutions like Harvard, Stanford and the University of Chicago. Th e next tier of the system is comprised of comprehensive and lesser research institutions, more public than private, more concerned with masters’ and undergraduate education than with advanced graduate education or research. Next come the nation’s liberal arts colleges, numerically the largest component of the system but actually enrolling less than 2% of the nation’s post-secondary students. Th e base of the system belongs to the nation’s community colleges and associated 2-year institutions, which today account for more than half of the system’s headcount. Now overwhelmingly public, community colleges can be both small and large: the largest enrolling more than one hundred thousand students annually. Off to one side but growing in size, visibility and political clout are a growing number of forprofi t institutions that principally serve students interested in completing interrupted collegiate careers, pursuing technical careers, or accessing on-line learning products.
