Today American higher education urgently needs bold thinking coupled with innovative actions if the United States is to meet the challenges of the 21st century--thinking and doing that goes beyond requests for more funding and accountability and beyond the tendency to look at what individual institutions do well and can contribute to global…

Michigan State University President Lou Anna Simon's concept of the world grant ideal is grounded in three core values: quality, inclusiveness, and connectivity. These core values fuel the 21st-century imperative to build sustainable global prosperity. They represent an affirmation of the Morrill Act of 1862 in the context of a global society and…

This paper focuses on the present condition and future of the professoriate and is part of a long-term study on how the academic profession is changing, now more rapidly than at any time in memory. These dramatic shifts have led to a deep restructuring of academic appointments, work, and careers. The question now looming is whether the forces that…

President Lincoln signed the Morrill Land-grant Act in 1862, launching a nationwide project in public higher education that would build democracy, prosperity, and competitiveness to levels undreamed of 150 years ago. As student costs skyrocket, driven by steep drops in public funding, the viability of that project, like the nation itself, is under…