Harvard Envy: Why Too Many Colleges Overshoot

Harvard Envy is a chapter excerpt from Change.edu coming out October 18, 2011.

Exploring the limitations of the exclusive, tradition-bound world of higher education, innovator Andrew S. Rosen, chairman and CEO of Kaplan, Inc., delivers a vision for making a world-class college experience available to students of all backgrounds.

 

Little is known about John Harvard, who bequeathed his books and £779 to a fledgling college on the Charles River in the 1630s, but the institution that bears his name has become the gold standard for universities worldwide. Tracing this fascinating history, and the history of American higher education overall, “Harvard Envy” raises important questions about the effect of super-elite campuses on America’s educational landscape. Just as Congress hotly debated whether to approve land-grant colleges in the nineteenth century, opening the doors of higher education to farmers, we face a competitive new demand for a highly educated workforce. Yet many colleges continue to insist on limiting access, and many college applicants continue to believe that exclusive institutions deliver the highest quality. 

 

With an eye-opening examination of the U.S. News and World Report college rankings and other barometers, “Harvard Envy” takes an enlightened look at how universities allocate resources and talent. Offering an inspiring alternative to the Ivory Tower playbook, Andrew S. Rosen presents a bold, cost-effective new vision for a truly competitive higher education system that serves both individual and national interests.