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Harvard University Press
April 2011
On Sale: April 14, 2011
304 pages
ISBN: 0674049721
EAN: 9780674049727
Kindle: B004Z0ZRKY
Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction
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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