Description
Book SynopsisBased on quantitative comparisons of colleges since the 1970s, Charles Clotfelter reveals that despite the civil rights revolution, billions spent on financial aid, and the commitment of colleges to greater equality, stratification in higher education has grown starker. He explains why undergraduate education—unequal in 1970—is even more so today.
Trade ReviewAll of Charles Clotfelter’s books about higher education have been home runs, but
Unequal Colleges in the Age of Disparity is a grand slam. Wonderfully well written, it should be read by everyone concerned with growing income inequality in the U.S. and the role our evolving higher education system has played in contributing to it. -- Ronald G. Ehrenberg, Cornell University
Clotfelter shows how the pattern of undergraduate education in the U.S. has, in the last four decades, done more to perpetuate economic inequality than to provide pathways for upward mobility. His analysis should concern anyone who cares about higher education, and spur efforts to address this complex issue more aggressively than we have in the past. -- Nannerl O. Keohane, Princeton University
Clotfelter is one of the best-regarded researchers in the economics of education. His book is a must-read for anybody interested in how the undergraduate education market in the U.S. has evolved over the last forty years. -- Brian P. McCall, University of Michigan
Most people connected to higher education are instinctively egalitarian, yet they work and study in a system that is saturated with inequality—in admissions, in resources, in prestige, and in outcomes. Clotfelter tells the story of these inequalities in a dispassionate and accessible way, but with exceptional lucidity and deep knowledge. -- Michael S. McPherson, President of the Spencer Foundation
A deeply researched, stimulating, and thoughtful analysis of the role of undergraduate education in America in sustaining the growing inequalities of our nation. A treasure trove of relevant data and careful analysis. -- Harold T. Shapiro, Princeton University
