Liberal Arts at the Brink

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Overview

Liberal arts colleges represent a tiny portion of the higher education market—no more than 2 percent of enrollees. Yet they produce a stunningly large percentage of America’s leaders in virtually every field of endeavor. The educational experience they offer—small classes led by professors devoted to teaching and mentoring, in a community dedicated to learning—has been a uniquely American higher education ideal.

Liberal Arts at the Brink is a wake-up call for everyone who values...

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Overview

Liberal arts colleges represent a tiny portion of the higher education market—no more than 2 percent of enrollees. Yet they produce a stunningly large percentage of America’s leaders in virtually every field of endeavor. The educational experience they offer—small classes led by professors devoted to teaching and mentoring, in a community dedicated to learning—has been a uniquely American higher education ideal.

Liberal Arts at the Brink is a wake-up call for everyone who values liberal arts education. A former college president trained in law and economics, Ferrall shows how a spiraling demand for career-related education has pressured liberal arts colleges to become vocational, distorting their mission and core values. The relentless competition among them to attract the “best” students has driven down tuition revenues while driving up operating expenses to levels the colleges cannot cover. The weakest are being forced to sell out to vocational for-profit universities or close their doors. The handful of wealthy elite colleges risk becoming mere dispensers of employment and professional school credentials. The rest face the prospect of moving away from liberal arts and toward vocational education in order to survive.

Writing in a personable, witty style, Ferrall tackles the host of threats and challenges liberal arts colleges now confront. Despite these daunting realities, he makes a spirited case for the unique benefits of the education they offer—to students and the nation. He urges liberal arts colleges to stop going it alone and instead band together to promote their mission and ensure their future.

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Editorial Reviews

Hong Kong Economic Journal

Victor E. Ferrall, Jr. has written a timely book with passion, details, and insights on the factors contributing to the decline in demand for liberal arts education, the crisis facing the liberal arts colleges, and the way forward for arresting the decline...This book is must reading for those who want to know about liberal arts education and care about the survival of liberal arts colleges in general and in America in particular.
— Edward K. Y. Chen

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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780674049727
  • Publisher: Harvard University Press
  • Publication date: 3/15/2011
  • Pages: 304
  • Sales rank: 190,323
  • Product dimensions: 5.60 (w) x 8.40 (h) x 1.10 (d)

Meet the Author

Victor E. Ferrall, Jr. is President Emeritus of Beloit College.

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Table of Contents

Preface ix

Introduction 1

1 Liberal Arts Colleges and Why We should Care about Them 7

2 The Economic Health of Liberal Arts Colleges 23

3 The Declining Demand for Liberal Arts Education 40

4 Competing 60

5 Cooperating 81

6 Recruiting Students 105

7 Liberal Arts Teachers: A Profile 113

8 Employing and Deploying Faculty for Teaching Excellence 126

9 Tenure 138

10 Curriculums 147

11 At the Brink 154

Epilogue: A Fable 163

Appendix: Data on the 225 Colleges 169

Notes 257

Acknowledgments 277

Index 279

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