The Functions of Higher Education

• Published date: 01 May 2017
• Author: Marcus Ford
• Date: 01 May 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/ajes.12187

The Functions of Higher Education

By MARCUS FORD*

ABSTRACT. In very broad outline, the history of higher education in the

United States has had four phases characterized by their primary

function: preserving Christian civilization, advancing the national

interest, research, and growing the global economy. Today, when we

talk about the need for more higher education the assumption is that

what is needed is more education devoted to economic growth and, to

a lesser extent, certain types of research. Against this background there

have always been a few outliers, colleges that do not fit this general

trend. These colleges make it clear that there are alternatives to the

status quo that do not involve retreating to some previous mode of

higher education. It is also possible to educate young people for the

continuation of Western civilization, public service, and environmental

civilization. Given the critical importance of the global environmental

crisis, a good case can be made for looking at these alternatives to the

status quo, especially those alternativesthat focus on public service and

environmental sustainability. The simple fact that higher education has

shifted over the centuries in terms of its mission provides some reason

to believe that it could, once again, adopt a new form.

Introduction

From the founding of the first college on the North American shores in

the early 17

th

century to the middle of the 19

th

century and beyond, the

primary function of a college education was civilizational. Its purpose

was the continuation of Christian culture. The instrument adopted for

this purpose was the liberal arts college.

*Author of Beyond the Modern University: Toward a Constructive Postmodern Uni-

versity (2002) and co-editor, with Stephen C. Rowe, of Educating for an Ecological

Civilization (2017). He has taught philosophy and religious studies at Eureka College

and Environmental Humanities at Northern Arizona University, and is now retired and

working on establishing a very small liberal arts college in Flagstaff Arizona. Email:

Marcus.Ford@nau.edu

American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Vol. 76, No. 3 (May, 2017).

DOI: 10.1111/ajes.12187

V

C2017 American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Inc.

In the middle of the 19

th

century, two new forms of higher education

were introduced—“land grant colleges” that focused on the “practical

arts” for the purpose of advancing the industrial and political goals of

the nation, and research universities that focused on research for the

cultural benefit of society. When they were first introduced, neither of

these two new forms of higher education replaced liberal arts colleges,

but over time both changed the course of higher education dramatical-

ly. Today, only slightly more than 2 million students out of a total of

over 17 million undergraduate students attend liberal arts colleges and

many of these liberal artscolleges are no longer committed to maintain-

ing Christian culture (NCES 2016: Figure 4).

The newest model of higher education in the United States is the for-

profit university. For-profit universities assume that the purpose of

higher education is economic—to increase material production and

increase the income of students. In a knowledge-based, global econo-

my, higher education serves to provide individuals with marketable

skills that will translate into jobs and income. This new understanding

of higher education is only 50 years old and though it is unlikely to

replace either the public university or the research university any time

soon, nonetheless this new model has changed the way manyindividu-

als think about higher education. Increasingly, people are coming to

the conclusion that higher education is a private good, rather than a

public good, and therefore the cost of an education should be borneby

the student.

It is difficult to imagine a more radical transformation than the evolu-

tion of higher education from being a means to perpetuate Christian

civilization to being a tool to gain personal wealth. Although mainline

Protestant denominations have generally softened their position on

serving both God and mammon—indeed, some forms of evangelical

Christianity now celebrate wealth as a blessing—historically this was

not the case. The founder of Christianity was quite clear that earthly

wealth was, at the very least, a major obstacle to salvation and quite

possibly a disqualifier.

The fact that higher education has changed so drastically over the

course of the last 100 years provides some justification for the idea that

it may change again. It is possible that colleges and universities will,

once again, return to the more basic task of preparing at least a

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