TY - BOOK AU - Newfield,Christopher J. TI - The great mistake: how we wrecked public universities and how we can fix them T2 - Critical university studies SN - 9781421427034 (paperback) AV - LB 2342 N547g 2018 U1 - 378/.05 PY - 2018/// CY - Baltimore PB - Johns Hopkins University Press KW - Public universities and colleges KW - United States KW - Finance KW - Universidades públicas KW - Finanzas KW - Estados Unidos KW - Education, Higher KW - Aims and objectives KW - Educación superior KW - Fines y objetivos KW - Higher education and state KW - Política de educación superior KW - Privatization in education KW - Privatización de la educación N1 - Includes bibliographical references and index; Introduction : the great mistake -- Holding back public colleges -- The price of privatization -- The devolutionary cycle -- The eight stages of decline -- The university retreat from public goods -- Subsidizing the private sector -- Large, regular tuition hikes -- The states cut public funding -- Growing student debt -- Private vendors leverage public funds -- Unequal funding cuts attainment -- Universities build the post-middle class -- The recovery cycle N2 - Higher education in America, still thought to be the world leader, is in crisis. University students are falling behind their international peers in attainment, while suffering from unprecedented student debt. For over a decade, the realm of American higher education has been wracked with self-doubt and mutual recrimination, with no clear solutions on the horizon. How did this happen? In this stunning new book, Christopher Newfield offers readers an in-depth analysis of the "great mistake" that led to the cycle of decline and dissolution, a mistake that impacts every public college and university in America. What might occur, he asserts, is no less than locked-in economic inequality and the fall of the middle class. In The Great Mistake, Newfield asks how we can fix higher education, given the damage done by private-sector models. The current accepted wisdom-that to succeed, universities should be more like businesses-is dead wrong ER -