Higher Education

Higher education has continued to change significantly throughout the 20th century. First take a look at American schools and the historical background of higher education. According to the Encyclopedia of American Education, the very first colleges established in the American colonies were founded as seminaries for the preparation of those becoming missionaries or preachers.  As the US economy began to expand, secular education developed and revealed a glimpse of what soon would become the modern American college (214).  The history of American education was not orderly at first; rather, it was a combination of cluttered local and private customs. But Encarta Online explains that this was not a productive way of organizing education. Later, Horace Mann developed systematic education which helped people become literate and successful individuals (section 2, par1). 

Research from the Encyclopedia of American Education explains that most higher education facilities contain libraries, traditional classrooms, science labs and large lecture rooms in order to provide the ideal learning environment.  Most college classes are instructed by professors, and sometimes they are assisted by graduate students who will teach introductory material.  The number of people in a class ranges anywhere from hundreds of students packed in a lecture hall to an independent study class of one to two students (215). 

 At a four-year college, a student may take career-focused courses, or a more broad range of liberal arts classes to provide them with enough background to pursue a degree at the graduate level, according to the Encyclopedia of American Education (214).  In terms of getting a degree from a college or university, there has been a tremendous increase in women who earned degrees.   Men, on the other hand, have shown a small decline.  An interesting aspect that should be noted is which degrees students seek now as compared to many years ago.  Between the years of 1970-1982, "…bachelor's degrees increased by 87% in business and management, 49% in engineering, 153% in health sciences, and 16% in life sciences" (1370).   Students' interest in computer degrees has gone up dramatically over the past 30 years.  Technology is changing more which causes this trend to continually increase.  The trend for teaching degrees, on the other hand, has declined.  There is proof of this decline by the statistics showing that education degrees have decreased by about 43% and are gradually showing downhill figures. This trend is expected to drop slightly as the years go by. 

An obstacle that all students who plan to pursue higher education must face is the tuition payment.  As most people may know, the finances for higher education have increased and continue to rise annually. There are many different ways for students to pay for their college education.  The question of whether to get a job while going to school is a decision students generally have to make as they get older, and the National Center for Education Statistics explains that "full-time, off-campus work may negatively affect students' persistence and attainment" (section 9, par 3).  So getting a job while going to school is one option to make money to pay for college tuition, but there are also many scholarships and financial aid programs to assist students, as well. 

Education has changed greatly due to the fact that technology has come such a long way.  We no longer use handheld chalkboards in the classroom.  More recently, students may be seen carrying their own laptops to class.  Teachers even use overheads and computers more often than chalkboards.  The World Wide Web has also played a major part in higher education.  Students are more likely to go to the Web for information instead of their local library.  Proof of this is found in the book by Louis Gerstner Jr., Roger D. Semerad, and Denis Philip Doyle, which states, "For example, the U.S. Naval Academy has developed an interactive computer video disk program for language instruction that will soon be available to the nation as a whole" (37). 

Bibliography

Since the Encyclopedia of American Education was published most recently in 1996, most of the information it contains is reasonably up to date.  Basically, its contents consist of various general information on many educational topics including facts about colleges.  Encyclopedias are quite often used as credible sources, and this one is no exception. 

This educational book was published in 1994.  Thus, most of the information found in it is fairly recent.  The content in this book is made up of mostly reform strategies, technology, and the tasks that the communities can take over.  This is a credible source due to the fact that Denis Philip Doyle is known as one of America's most influential education reformers.

This subject encyclopedia was published in 1988 and contains fairly recent statistics.  A person looking for information on the topic of education would be inclined to look at this book. It contains information about the history of education, both private and public, as well as statistics about things such as enrollment, trends in degrees, and finances. Facts on File has published many credible books.

This resource includes important people, places, and dates in modern American education.  Published less than three years ago, this source is relatively up to date.  This biographical dictionary contains information about significant events such as Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka and the establishment of the Department of Education.  Frederik Ohles is the Dean of Illinois College and a professor of history with a Ph.D., which suggests that the information from this source is valid. 

This Web site is a document coming from the government so it is most likely a credible source.  The creators also provide an e-mail address allowing a point of contact, which means they are probably confident in their publication.  Since this site was last updated in July of 1997, the information it provides is quite recent.  This particular Web site contains large amounts of information on the subject of post secondary schools including various facts and statistics.  It is presented in an orderly fashion and includes a thorough citation of all research materials used so that further research can be done and their information presented can be verified.

 
The title of the Web site is MSN Encarta.  The site is sponsored by Barnes and Noble.  This information was received from the top of the Web page.  Below is the link that will take you to the Web site. 

http://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?ti=04E49000

All the information in the article appears to be accurate although I was not able to determine who wrote it after clicking the various links on the page.  This site was found by using Looksmart.com.  There was a contact at the bottom of the page for the article.  Below is a link to the individual responsible for the article. 

People

• Horace Mann 
• B.F. Skinner 
• John Kemeny 
• Thomas E. Kurtz
• George Bush

Places

• Harvard University 
• Houston, Texas 
• University of California, Berkeley 
• Washington D.C. 

Chronology

1953:  Station KUHT in Houston, Texas, introduced educational television 

1954:  Brown v Board of Education of Topeka decision ruled against racially segregated schools 

1954:  B.F. Skinner wrote “The Science of Learning and the Art of Teaching” 

1962: U.S. Supreme Court ruled against prayer in public schools 

1964:  Free Speech movement began at the University of California, Berkeley 

1967:  John Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz developed BASIC computer language 

1977:  Department of Education established 

1984:  Macintosh desktop computer marketed to college students 

1991:  President George Bush issued “America 2000,” national education goals and achievement plan