Thomas Jefferson once stated that the foremost goal of American
education must be to nurture the "natural aristocracy of talent and
virtue." Although in many ways American higher education has
fulfilled Jefferson's vision by achieving a widespread level of
excellence, it has not achieved the objective of equity implicit in
Jefferson's statement. In "Equity and Excellence in American Higher
Education," William G. Bowen, Martin A. Kurzweil, and Eugene M.
Tobin explore the cause for this divide. Employing historical
research, examination of the most recent social science and public
policy scholarship, international comparisons, and detailed
empirical analysis of rich new data, the authors study the
intersection between "excellence" and "equity" objectives.
Beginning with a time line tracing efforts to achieve equity and
excellence in higher education from the American Revolution to the
early Cold War years, this narrative reveals the halting, episodic
progress in broadening access across the dividing lines of gender,
race, religion, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. The authors
argue that despite our rhetoric of inclusiveness, a significant
number of youth from poor families do not share equal access to
America's elite colleges and universities. While America has
achieved the highest level of educational attainment of any
country, it runs the risk of losing this position unless it can
markedly improve the precollegiate preparation of students from
racial minorities and lower-income families.
After identifying the "equity" problem at the national level and
studying nineteen selective colleges and universities, the authors
propose a set of potential actions to be taken at federal, state,
local, and institutional levels. With recommendations ranging from
reform of the admissions process, to restructuring of federal
financial aid and state support of public universities, to
addressing the various precollegiate obstacles that disadvantaged
students face at home and in school, the authors urge all selective
colleges and universities to continue race-sensitive admissions
policies, while urging the most selective (and privileged)
institutions to enroll more well-qualified students from families
with low socioeconomic status.
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