The US Higher Education System - Drivers of Excellence

Abstract

US universities are not only acting as vehicles for educating the people for carrying out roles in the American economy but also as engines for the nation’s growth. They are expected to conserve the knowledge accumulated by the past, impart that knowledge to students, and contribute to the development of new knowledge of all kinds. Universities are expected to utilize their vast knowledge pool to conduct research and develop solutions to myriad issues. For this purpose, the vehicle of public funding is used to channelize the research efforts towards issues of importance to the US economy. University administrators too place enormous importance on such research grants and may factor the grants in faculty tenure, promotion and salary increment decisions. Apart from this public funding of research, the federal and state governments have been liberally providing undergraduate scholarships and graduate teaching and research fellowships to develop a scientific manpower pool in the country. The other major driver for excellence in the US Higher Education System is the continuing quest for high faculty quality and productivity. Faculty quality is ensured through conscious interventions during the selection, confirmation, promotions and salary reviews.