ABSTRACT

While many students, parents, educators, and organizations who hire their graduates hold US universities in high regard, the cost of higher education has risen much faster than the rate of inflation. High costs, in turn, have severely limited access to higher education for large portions of the US population or caused graduates and those who fall short of graduation to face substantial student loan debt. This book examines the root causes of these underlying problems and offers a comprehensive, easy-to-understand, high-impact solution. The book identifies actions that improve higher education outcomes including lower tuition costs, better access for student from low and middle income homes, faster throughput, fewer dropouts, and better job opportunities for graduates. It links a real and implementable solution to the underlying problems and their root causes. Upon finishing this book, readers should understand why the performance of higher education needs to improve and have solid ideas about how to fix it. The book focuses on public universities, but the ideas discussed are also applicable to private for-profit and not-for-profit universities. The writing style is simple and direct.

chapter 1|30 pages

The Higher Education Conundrum

chapter 4|36 pages

Understanding the Root Causes

chapter 7|16 pages

Becoming Student-Centered: The Right Way

chapter 8|14 pages

Building Bridges to Potential Employers

chapter 9|28 pages

Government’s Role in Higher Education

chapter 10|22 pages

Redesigning Curriculum and Pedagogy

chapter 11|34 pages

Reforming Administration and Management

chapter 12|24 pages

Reshaping Faculty’s Role

chapter 13|14 pages

Creating High-Technology Learning Materials