Remaking College

Rebecca Chopp, Susan Frost, Daniel H. Weiss

"Residential liberal arts colleges maintain a unique place in the landscape of American higher education. These schools are characterized by broad-based curricula, small class size, and interaction between students and faculty. Aimed at developing students' intellectual literacy and critical-thinking skills rather than specific professional preparation, the value proposition made by these colleges has recently come under intense pressure. Remaking College brings together a large and distinguished group of higher education leaders to define the American liberal arts model, to describe the challenges these institutions face, and to propose sustainable solutions.Both economic and strategic environments have developed to threaten these schools. Since 1990, for example, 35 percent of these institutions have transformed into "professional" colleges offering more vocational fields to their...