The Bait: The History of American Colleges and the Creation of Student Loans

Robert H. Scott, III (), Joseph N. Patten () and Kenneth Mitchell ()
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Robert H. Scott, III: Monmouth University
Joseph N. Patten: Monmouth University
Kenneth Mitchell: Monmouth University

Chapter Chapter 1 in Bait and Switch, 2023, pp 1-26 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract The number of American colleges has grown from 20 to 4,360 since the founding of the nation. In this chapter, we provide a historical overview of how the US system of higher education transitioned from a British-style university model that mostly focused on the classics and religious instruction to an American-style utilitarian system that targeted the development of the nation’s political and economic interests. In the nineteenth century, President Abraham Lincoln in signing the Morrill Act of 1862 viewed the growth of colleges as vital to his goal of Western expansion. In the twentieth century, President Lyndon Johnson expanded public access to colleges by signing the Higher Education Act of 1965 as part of a larger national goal associated with his Great Society initiative. This chapter also highlights the creation of the student loan system and how students became ensnared in student debt traps once the public perception of colleges transformed from a public good to a market-based private good.

Keywords: Social contract; Morrill Act; G.I. Bill; National Defense Education Act of 1958; Higher Education Act of 1965 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-031-46375-4_1

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-46375-4_1

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