Lessons from the Edge: For-Profit and Nontraditional Higher Education in America (Ace/Praeger) [Hardcover]

Gary A. Berg (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0275982580 | ISBN-13: 978-0275982584 | Publication Date: January 30, 2005

The importance of for-profit higher education becomes clear when one examines the state of higher education today. Traditional institutions are facing major pressures, including diminishing financial support, a call to serve adult learners, the need to balance applied and liberal arts curricula, and the need to maintain and evolve the institutional mission. Stakeholders are more numerous than ever before, and they are pulling institutions in different directions. Traditional institutions of higher education are increasingly pressured to alter the their missions because diminished public funding has resulted in dependence on donors and corporations with varied interests. This strain is causing universities to behave in new ways. For-profit institutions provide a model of how to handle these challenges by their very structure--they are organized to operate professionally as a business and continually question and refine their organizational mission.They are constructed specifically to meet the needs of adult learners, and the core of their mission--to help adult and traditionally underserved students--is constant and clear.
This book grew out of research linked to the Good Work Higher Education Project, which, since 1995, has been investigating how individuals are able to carry out "good work" in their chosen professions when conditions are changing at unprecedented rates. Good work is work that is at once of high quality, socially responsible, and fulfilling to the worker. Berg argues in this book that good work by this definition is occurring at nontraditional institutions, including some of the for-profits.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The structure of the book lends itself to a variety of uses and users. Its straightforward, nontechnical style will appeal to the general reader, and its well-organized survey of higher eduation issues will prove useful to the student. A rather controversial topic, the subject of the book will be intriguing to faculty. Finally, the author's background as a university administrator contributes to his point of view and generates additional interest for higher education personnel. Berg's constructive attitude is refreshing. The message is that we can consider nontraditional providers of higher education, not as inferior competitors, but as unique institutions specializing in what traditional higher education providers are not yet able to deliver: truly universal access to postsecondary education. By learning from nontraditional schools, we can better our understanding of our current challenges. And by furthering our understanding, we can improve. (The Review Of Higher Education )

About the Author

GARY A. BERG, Dean, California State University, Channel Islands, and author of four books, including ACE Higher Education Series book, Why Distance Learning?, and numerous articles on current issues in higher education.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 232 pages
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (January 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275982580
• ISBN-13: 978-0275982584
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,508,678 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A bit University of Phoenix heavy, May 29, 2006

By 

Jeffrey Leeper "kem2070" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lessons from the Edge: For-Profit and Nontraditional Higher Education in America (Ace/Praeger) (Hardcover)

The author highlights that he wrote the book with the University of Phoenix in mind, but when he asked for feedback, he was told that he should include other for-profit institutions. Although he did this, the book gives the reader the feeling that the other examples were added hastily at the end of the project. Some of the major for-profit institutions (like City University) are not even mentioned. Nonetheless, he does have enough information to give a good background to this up-and-coming trend.

This book is not who's who of the for-profit university world. Instead, it talks about the mindset of the nontraditional university and explores why it succeeds. It also makes a call for the traditional university to rethink its mission.

I would recommend this book to people who want to get a good background understanding on nontraditional universities. These universities will not replace the traditional universities, but they will help us to be better educated and more productive.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worthwhile reading for all scholars: students and faculty, alike, March 3, 2006

By 

David S. Murphy (Ellicott City, Maryland USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lessons from the Edge: For-Profit and Nontraditional Higher Education in America (Ace/Praeger) (Hardcover)

Berg offers a careful and thorough evaluation of for-profit higher education in America, today.

The book is an evaluation of the foremost regionally-accredited, for-profit universities from an academic administrator who joined University of Phoenix faculty and taught online, during the course of his research. From a description of the beginnings of for-profit education in America to the challenges and future potential of the business of education, this book carefully explains the value of for-profit education to our society.

The profit motive for the illustrated institutions reflects a core focus that puts student success ahead of traditional concerns: rather than allowing the professorial cadre to manage these universities, responsibility is shared between faculty and administration, always keeping the students' best interests in mind.

This book should be in the personal library of all scholars' libraries.