Roger G. Noll - Challenges to Research Universities

Foreword

The American system of higher education is unusual in many ways. In most of the world nearly all higher education is provided by large public institutions, but in the United States colleges and universities are remarkably diverse in their mission, ownership, scale, and scope. Among American colleges and universities, an elite set of about 100 institutions does many things in addition to educating students. These institutions perform most of the nation0s basic research, provide a substantial amount of medical care (especially the most technically demanding services), and supply athletic entertainment to national television audiences. In most of the world, institutions of higher education serve primarily an educational purpose, leaving basic research, medical care, and athletics to other organizations.

Though American higher education has experienced periods of financial difficulty, the twentieth century has witnessed remarkable growth, especially since World War II. State governments have poured more and more dollars into public institutions to accommodate the steadily increasing number of young adults who desire higher education. The federal government has likewise supported higher education through grant and loan programs for students from lower-income families, educational benefits programs for veterans, basic research grants (especially in science and engineering), generous policies for reimbursing teaching hospitals for services provided to medicare patients, and income tax deductions for contributions to universities by businesses and individuals.

Early drafts of the chapters in this book were presented at a conference in June 1996 involving numerous experts on universities from academe and government. The conference and the publication of the book were sponsored by the Brown Center on Education Policy. Additional support for this project was provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The authors are grateful for exceptional administrative support from Gemma Park, the inspiration and ideas of Lois Rice, and the generous assistance from colleagues in the Department of Education, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Science Foundation for guiding them through the confusing mountain of federal data on higher education. In addition they thank Steph Selice and Deborah Styles for editing the manuscript, Cynthia Iglesias and Helen Kim for verifying its factual content, Carlotta Ribar for proofreading, and Julia Petrakis for preparing the index.

The views expressed here are those of the authors and should not be ascribed to the trustees, officers, or staff of the Brookings Institution.

Chapter 1

The American Research University: An Introduction

Roger G. Noll

American research universities have enjoyed a wonderful century, rising from a distinctly inferior status to world domination. But in the waning years of this golden age of American science and engineering, the future of these institutions is in doubt. This book explores in depth some of the major issues challenging the strength of U.S. research universities.

The concern that has been expressed by leaders of American higher education is hardly new. In 1983, the Academy of Political Science published a book entitled The Crisis in Higher Education, and the conclusion to its chapter on research universities began: "In order to continue in the style to which they have become accustomed, the research universities in both public and private sectors need a miracle."1 In 1975 the New York Times proclaimed, "private colleges and universities ... are, individually and collectively, in extreme danger," and the president of Dartmouth College opined: "I think the institution of private colleges and universities will survive, but... if present terms continue about half of them are going to go out of business."2 A few years earlier, a detailed economic study of U.S. higher education was titled The New Depression in Higher Education One review of these assessments flatly stated the problem: "An accurate assessment of either the current or prospective financial situation of colleges and uni versities has thus far eluded those who have investigated the subject."4 The skepticism of these authors was valid, for in the years that followed, American research universities enjoyed nothing short of a boom in both revenues and enrollments. Scholars who claim that the long-awaited crisis has finally arrived should approach this topic with humility.