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HEL 8300 The Faces of 21st Century Higher Education Institutions

About HEL 8300

This foundation course focuses on the identification and analysis of issues, innovations, global trends, and policies of current importance in contemporary higher education. Topics will include the different types and characteristics of public, private, and for-profit colleges and universities and the key stakeholders; changing student demographics; student retention; faculty development; accountability and accreditation; life-long learning; the job market and higher education; and technology and distance learning. This course will examine the current landscape of higher education and explore the faculty, student, and administrative culture.

Class readings

Required materials:

  • The Chronicle of Higher Education Almanac (August, 2024). Course Reserve Sherman Library Circulation Desk
  • Bastedo, M. N., Altbach, P. G., & Gumport, P. J. (2023). American higher education in the twenty-first century: Social, political, and economic challenges (5th ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press.  - The library provides access to older editions of this book.

Unit 1 – Institutional types

Module 1 - Classification of higher education institutions; American higher education generations

  • Chapter 1in Bastedo, M. N., Altbach, P. G., & Gumport, P. J. (2023). American higher education in the twenty-first century: Social, political, and economic challenges. Johns Hopkins University Press.  
  • Carnegie Foundation website (in particular the Classification of Institutions of Higher Education)

Module 2 – Curriculum in American higher education

  • Chapter 3 in Bastedo, M. N., Altbach, P. G., & Gumport, P. J. (2023). American higher education in the twenty-first century: Social, political, and economic challenges. Johns Hopkins University Press.  

Module 3 - Community colleges

  • Chapter 18 in Bastedo, M. N., Altbach, P. G., & Gumport, P. J. (2023). American higher education in the twenty-first century: Social, political, and economic challenges. Johns Hopkins University Press.  

Unit 2 - Student Demographics

Module 4 - Changing student demographics

  • Student Section in The Chronicle of Higher Education Almanac (August, 2024). Course Reserve Sherman Library Circulation Desk

Module 5 - Completion of assignment

Module 6 – Financing American higher education

  • Chapter 12 in Bastedo, M. N., Altbach, P. G., & Gumport, P. J. (2023). American higher education in the twenty-first century: Social, political, and economic challenges. Johns Hopkins University Press.  

Module 7 - Widening participation in higher education; trends in enrollment behavior; diversification of the post-secondary education system

  • Chapter 13 in Bastedo, M. N., Altbach, P. G., & Gumport, P. J. (2023). American higher education in the twenty-first century: Social, political, and economic challenges. Johns Hopkins University Press.  

Module 8 – Status and evolution of diversity in American higher education

  • Chapter 14 in Bastedo, M. N., Altbach, P. G., & Gumport, P. J. (2023). American higher education in the twenty-first century: Social, political, and economic challenges. Johns Hopkins University Press.  

Module 9 - Completion of assignment

Unit 3 – Faculty and Administration

Module 10 – Academic freedom

  • Chapter 2 in Bastedo, M. N., Altbach, P. G., & Gumport, P. J. (2023). American higher education in the twenty-first century: Social, political, and economic challenges. Johns Hopkins University Press.  

Module 11 – The American professoriate

  • Chapter 4 in Bastedo, M. N., Altbach, P. G., & Gumport, P. J. (2023). American higher education in the twenty-first century: Social, political, and economic challenges. Johns Hopkins University Press.  

Module 12 - Shared leadership among trustees, presidents, and faculty; Completion of assignment

  • Chapter 16 in Bastedo, M. N., Altbach, P. G., & Gumport, P. J. (2023). American higher education in the twenty-first century: Social, political, and economic challenges. Johns Hopkins University Press.  

Module 13 – Legal issues in American higher education; Completion of assignment

  • Chapter 11 in Bastedo, M. N., Altbach, P. G., & Gumport, P. J. (2023). American higher education in the twenty-first century: Social, political, and economic challenges. Johns Hopkins University Press.  

Module 14 - Completion of assignment