"The reader may find the title of this excellent volume too modest for the rich presentation of American educational history it offers. Much more than a shaping of that historical record, the educational facts presented gain a special resonance from the richness of the social and economic background against which the history unfolds." --Change

"This overview is a well-organized, highly readable account which will serve nicely as a background for further specialized study." --The Journal of Academic Librarianship

"A magnum opus--in size, in topics and issues covered, in literature mastered. . . . a well written, smooth flowing, balanced comment." --Clark Kerr, president emeritus, University of California

"I've been waiting for this book for more than a decade. The highly regarded histories of American higher education have become badly dated. They ignore the last quarter century when American higher education was transformed. Arthur Cohen does the nation's colleges and universities a much-needed service by authoring this volume." --Arthur Levine, president, Teachers College, Columbia University

"Arthur Cohen has produced a superb history of American higher education. Masterful, authoritative, comprehensive, and incisive, this work will stand as the classic required resource for all who want to understand where American higher education came from and where it is going." --John V. Lombardi, president, University of Florida