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Sadie Wassum
Synthesis 1
WRGT 2010-090
Jennifer Courtney
Evolution of Higher Education
(An analysis of the changes in higher education and its effects on the public)
The main clusters used throughout the map accompanying this paper are topics
immediately affected by higher education and its relationship with society. Two clusters
are those individuals who feel the burdens and benefits of the changing relationship while
the final cluster demonstrates how the goals and methods of higher education institutions
have changed over time. Using the titles of faculty, students, and goals allows for a broad
range of change to be evaluated and express how the corporatization of universities and
colleges has taken place over time. The subtopics are those highly discussed in a majority
of the literature presented for reading, used in order to detail more specific variations and
changes in education at is has evolved. This paper will evaluate how higher education has
developed and expanded greatly throughout the United States allowing for more research
and development to take place as well as allow a more economically focused mindset to
permeate the system.
The first major camp or cluster selected was that of faculty and the effects
changes in higher educations has forced upon faculty members. Universities and colleges
open a number of employment opportunities across the globe, ranging from professors to
management within universities to the institution's president. Faculty has drastically been
affected by the corporatization movement taking place throughout higher these
institutions. The number of part-time faculty has raised dramatically and as a result these

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individuals are treated poorly in comparison to the full-time and tenured employees. They
are not required to receive quality offices and are given less priority than other members
of the staff.
These issues pertaining to faculty are persisting and in some cases escalating
resulting in faculty outreach to other possible employment and income opportunities.
Preference is given to those involved in certain fields above others depending on the
department and faculty are encouraged to participate in individual and outside research
should they be in need of additional income. Due to the greater amount of part-time
teachers at higher education institutions students and education quality are being affected
due to less time on campus or devoted to their students causing a lack of student
interaction with professors and other faculty members.
Related to faculty members, the second cluster is students and how the changes in
higher education have affected the quality and enjoyment of their education. As the
economy has fluctuated throughout the years and inflation has taken hold, the cost of
higher education has been greatly affected exponentially. Due to this issue the price of
tuition to many institutions has raise dramatically causing an escalated amount of student
debt. As previously mentioned, the quality of education is suffering based faculty
complications, yet students are paying greater amounts. The raised price of higher
education has caused concern among student who believe they are paying more and
entering more debt for a lower quality of education. Undergraduate students are entering
a vast amount of debt while the graduate students are used as teaching assistants.
Graduate students give out information without the pay they should be gaining for the
material they are presenting and the time they devote to the universities aiding in research

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and the education of other students. This topic has been the cause of unionization
movements throughout the world to protest the circumstances students are faced with to
gain the education required for their desired field of work.
Diversity in higher education is another debated topic, questioning whether higher
education needs to be more diverse and regulated by involvement of the university. Many
state that discrimination exists against different social, economic, race, and religious
groups upon admission to institutions as well as the administration of scholarships to
different minority groups. The research done on this topic is attempting to determine
whether individuals learn better in a diverse environment or one segregated to include
only certain groups.
The final topic to be address is that of how the goals of higher education have
changed as corporations have become more involved. The education present today
follows a neoliberal mindset, which focuses more on the single individual as well as
economic goals. The goal of this mindset is to produce workers as well as to achieve
economic benefits. The way to do so is through research and expansion of knowledge and
to gain more funding for their programs. Issues involved in research currently are that the
majority of funding given to research programs comes from resources outside of the
institution itself or even the government.
Outside funding has been the saving grace for research in higher education
however; this may inspirer biased or sponsored research to be developed from the
programs. As a result research at universities focuses on areas believe to attract the most
investors in their program in order to expand their research options. This issue results in
vast amounts of research in certain areas yet neglects other potential advancements in

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others. Many believe that higher education has been so greatly infected with corporate
ideals that it has lost sight of its original purpose, to provide a meaningful education and
produce the best individuals possible for the future.
Education has changed vastly over recent decades, which has resulted in
wonderful advancement in nearly every field. Yet, as time has gone on higher education
has turned to a more economic mindset and corporate view, so much so it has begun to
harm the reputation with those who lives it affects. Higher education touches the lives of
so many individuals in our society today and it has become necessary to mend the
opinion of the public when it comes to the quality of education provided by these
institutions.

Works Cited
Bonewits, Sarah, and Lawrence Soley. Research and the Bottom Line in Today's
University. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
Hacker, Andrew, and Claudia Dreifus. "Are Colleges Worth the Price of Admission?" The
Chronicle of Higher Education. N.p., 11 July 2010. Web. 24 Sept. 2015.
Hanke, Bob, and Alison Hearn. Introduction: Out of the ruins, the university to come.
N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
Hurtado, Sylvia. "Linking Diversity with the Educational and Civic Missions of Higher
Education." The Review of Higher Education 30.2 (2007): n. pag. Project Muse.
Web. 24 Sept. 2015.
Kezar, Adrianna J. "Obtaining Integrity? Reviewing and Examining the Charter between
higher Education and Society." The review of higher education 27.4 (2004): n.
pag. Print.
Wallace, David Foster. "This Is Water." Speech.
Williams, Jeffrey J. "Deconstructing Academe: The Birth of Critical University Studies."
The Chronicle Review. N.p., 19 Feb. 2012. Web. 24 Sept. 2015.