6.11.12
Pell Grants: Where Does All the Money Go?

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9.12.11
Games Universities Play: And How Donors Can Avoid Them

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6.02.11
A Common-Sense Look at UNC Faculty Workloads

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2.22.11
A Proposal for Cutting the 2011 UNC Budget

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5.01.10
State Investment in Universities: Rethinking the Impact on Economic Growth

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3.25.10
Accommodating College Students with Learning Disabilities: ADD, ADHD, and Dyslexia

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2.17.10
Do North Carolina Students Have Freedom of Speech?

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12.01.09
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9.15.09
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6.30.09
The Revenue-to-Cost Spiral in Higher Education

Article Archive

Research
From Christian Gentleman to Bewildered Seeker

The Transformation of American Higher Education

By Russell Nieli

Comments

August 15, 2007

Russell K. Nieli's new essay tells the story of the increasing loss of purpose and focus suffered by American universities over the ages.

Nieli, a lecturer in Princeton University’s politics department, has authored an important study of the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, written numerous articles on public policy topics and edited an anthology of writings on affirmative action. Nieli graduated summa cum laude from Duke University and received his Ph.D. from Princeton in 1970. He previously authored a Pope Center research paper in March 2007, “The Decline and Revival of Liberal Learning at Duke: The Focus and Gerst Programs.”

Download PDF file: From Christian Gentleman to Bewildered Seeker (1.18 mb)

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