How can the Truman Commission report be read 75 years after its release? Why should anybody care about it? What is this thing, anyway? The most compelling way to read "Higher Education for American Democracy" is as a visionary and progressive statement of the public purposes of American higher education. In so many ways, the report reads…

The Higher Education Act of 1965 makes clear that, although the U.S. Department of Education (Department) has an important role to play in ensuring that all academically-ready students have the opportunity to attend the colleges of their choice, Congress has prohibited the Department from intervening in the curricular decisions of an institution…

Evidence indicates that a higher education system operates among the federal government, state and local governments, and institutions. The three components share common goals and program interdependencies, especially in student and institutional aid. Recognizing a system exists and strengthening it through reauthorization of the Higher Education…