The Lowering of Higher Education in America: Why Financial Aid Should Be Based on Student Performance

(Hardback)

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A top educator looks at the causes and national costs of the lowering of college admission and academic standards in the United States, then proposes confronting the problem by tying federal student grants and loans to academic performance as well as to financial need. After a half-century of teaching, distinguished educator Jackson Toby concludes that all too often, our current system gives high school students the impression that college is an entitlement and not a challenge. The Lowering of Higher Education: Why Financial Aid Should be Based on Student Performance is Toby's unflinching look at this broken system and the ways it can be fixed. The Lowering of Higher Education documents just how far college admission standards have fallen, then measures the cost of remedial programs for underprepared high school students just to get them to where they should have been in the first place. Toby also pulls no punches on the issue of grade inflation, which rewards laziness while demoralizing hard-working students. In conclusion, Toby proposes an innovative solution: base financial aid solely on academic performance, creating a compelling incentive for students to develop serious attitudes and study approaches in high school.

Reviews

Toby has seen higher education change greatly over the decades. In his new book The Lowering of Higher Education in America (Praeger), he pulls no punches in explaining how the mania for promoting "access" to college for as many people as possible has driven down academic standards and expectations. It's unconventional thinking par excellence. * The John William Pope Center *
Toby, a retired professor of sociology and criminology at Rutgers U., contends that financial assistance for college should be based on academic performance. He describes how colleges weaken education by giving students a sense of entitlement; how they make it easy for too many underprepared students to get accepted; what the costs of underprepared students are; how grade inflation undermines academic achievement; how students spend their time at college and how this affects retention rates; whether attending college improves job prospects; how federal grants and loans have universalized financial aid; and how public policy should change. * Reference & Research Book News *
"Jackson's new book The Lowering of Higher Education in America is a gem. . . . Run, do not walk, to your bookstore (or on-line provider) and buy Jackson's book." -- collegeaffordability.blogspot.com * Center for College Affordability and Productivity *
an excellent bookThis one is on numerous ACTA staff members' personal reading lists, and we recommend it most highly! * Inside Academe *
The book is well organized, with the chapters building Toby's case in a logically progressive manner. Moreover, his section headings are clear, rather than cryptic or cutesy, and these headings are often stated as research questions, making it easy for readers to follow his argument. * Canadian Journal of Sociology *

Author Bio

Jackson Toby taught sociology and criminology at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ, for fifty years.