American Higher Education System Research Articles

Differences Between the Chinese and American Higher Education Systems and Implications

Despite receiving considerable global attention, the higher education systems of China and the United States exhibit disparities and complementarities that highlight ongoing deficiencies in educational reform and development. This paper holds a comparative analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, and developmental trends within the higher education frameworks of both nations. It reveals that China's system is defined by its uniform policies and stringent teaching methodologies, characterized by fixed curricula and rigorous mechanisms for teacher training and student selection. In contrast, the US system is celebrated for its diversity, flexible policies, innovative teaching approaches, and diverse curricula. It places a strong emphasis on teacher autonomy and the individualization of student assessments. Based on these findings, this study offers a series of recommendations designed to advance the development of higher education in both countries. These include optimizing the admissions and examination systems, reforming educational philosophies, broadening international perspectives, and enhancing the allocation and fairness of educational resources.

Comparative Insights into Moroccan and American Higher Education Systems: History, Legacy, and Contemporary Realities

Comparative Insights into Moroccan and American Higher Education Systems: History, Legacy, and Contemporary Realities

A Comparative Analysis of the Institutional Quality Evaluation Processes in Turkish, European, and American Higher Education Systems

Changing economic, cultural, political, and social conditions worldwide have a big impact on higher education. Under the influence of changing conditions, the functional scope of higher education institutions has expanded and new functions have been added. In addition to these changes, the demand for higher education institutions is increasing day by day in terms of education, research, and service to society. The expanding functions of higher education and its deepening impact on society call for quality activities of higher education institutions. Therefore, institutional quality evaluation processes are carried out in higher education institutions. This study aims to analyze and compare institutional quality evaluation processes applied in Turkish, European, and American higher education systems. The findings obtained are important as they will contribute to the Higher Education Quality Council of Türkiye, quality commissions in higher education institutions, and other researchers who will conduct scientific studies on this subject. It is a descriptive and qualitative study whose sample consists of institutional quality evaluation agencies from Türkiye, England, Norway, Finland, and the United States of America. The data in the study were collected and analyzed by applying the document analysis method. The findings indicate that institutional external evaluation or audit models are used in Türkiye, England, Norway, and Finland while an institutional accreditation system is used in the USA. Although the quality evaluation processes applied are generally similar in terms of basic objectives, assessed dimensions, assessment approach, people involved in the implementation of the assessment, and assessment type, there are differences in aspects such as the management, coordination, and recognition practices of the countries’ higher education systems. Taking into account national circumstances, the institutional quality evaluation processes in the Turkish higher education system should be organized and implemented in a systematic way to ensure quality higher educational practice.

Transformation of the American academic system during the COVID-19 pandemic

The article explores the issue of the structural transformation of the contemporary American academic system, namely one of the main formats existing in it – universities and their functioning during the first months of the spread of coronavirus infection. The COVID-19 pandemic has had the vast and most comprehensive impact on the higher education systems of the first world countries, which was demonstrated in the article. It is worth noting that the actively current trends of digitalisation, computerisation and the general implementation of the advancements of the scientific and technological progress of the higher education system were overlapped by the new emergency conditions of the pandemic and the need to choose a different format of functioning in the current situation. The ongoing transformations and structural alterations are most visible in the United States of America, due to a number of factors – from the historical dynamism of the development of the American higher education system to its active role in the development and rollout of technological advancements. The American academic system is introduced and analysed in two main formats: public universities and private ones. Each group of the indicated universities has chosen its own strategy of functioning and implemented it in practice, resting on individual factors and conditions. Nevertheless, there is already a separation between these two large groups of American universities in the implementation of functioning strategies during the coronavirus pandemic. The analysis of factors, conditions, contexts and actions of universities from these groups allows us to understand not only the dynamics of the development of the American academic system at the moment but also will allow us to comprehend its future transformations and alterations.

International experience of human capital management in higher educational institutions: the american model

The issues of training qualified specialists have become especially relevant in recent years, since the requirements imposed on higher educational institutions have increased significantly due to recent trends in the world. Universities today are not just knowledge transfer centers, but they are increasingly involved in social issues. Higher educational institutions have a direct impact on raising the standard of living, improving material well-being, career prospects, and the economic growth and prosperity of the state. Higher educational institutions play a key role in the formation, development of human capital, which is the main basic value of any economy, and especially an innovative economy. The purpose of this article is to study the foreign experience of formation and development of human capital, to identify the main trends, to study statistical data on the example of universities in the United States. The choice of American universities was conditioned by a number of factors, namely by the fact that the majority of American universities occupy leading positions in the world rankings. The main input data were the materials presented in the annual reports of the U.S. Department of Education, scientific journals. The authors provide an overview of statistical data on such indicators as the number of startups launched by students and faculty, their success in the market, and the scope of their activities. The conclusions offered in the article on the peculiarities of human capital management in higher educational institutions based on the analysis of the American higher education system can have a positive impact on the development of other higher education systems.

The Lasting Effects of the Pandemic on Graduate and Professional Education

The coronavirus pandemic caused a shift in the American higher education system. Many institutions switched from in-person to virtual platforms. Since graduate and professional students are more likely than undergraduate students to enroll in a hybrid or online program, they were less affected by the transition to online education. However, the decrease in undergraduate enrollment during the pandemic further squeezed institutional finances showing a decline in international graduate enrollment in the United States. As universities place additional scrutiny on program finances, departments will face pressure to reduce the number of assistantships that are not supported by external grants and contracts, which will disproportionately affect international enrollment. Additionally, the large graduate and professional student loan debt and benefits they receive from repayment plans are issues. Congress and the U.S. Department of Education may pursue efforts to limit the benefits that graduate and professional students receive from the federal student loan program.

Book Review: Mitchell, B. C., King, W. J. (2022). Leadership Matters: Confronting the Hard Choices Facing Higher Education. United States: Johns Hopkins University Press

In the context of our changing times with dramatic and unexpected challenges, Leadership Matters sends a strong message to higher education leadership, addressing the pressing needs for flexibility and adaptation, but also focusing on the tasks for those who govern these “repositories of American culture.” Extraordinary challenges require governance prowess and extraordinary decisions. Organized in nine chapters followed by extensive notes, the book represents a major contribution to the overall concepts of strategic planning, management and operations, stakeholder relations, campus and community, accreditation and athletic conferences, to name just a few. W. Joseph King and Brian C. Mitchell share with the readers their strong belief that the American higher education system will continue to be relevant in the coming years if their leaders can prove themselves to be adaptable and effective in their decision-making approach.

How Institutional Identity Shapes College Student Recruitment: The Relationship Between Religious Distinctiveness and Market Demand

AbstractInstitutional diversity has long been recognized as a signature strength of the American system of higher education, yet the sector contributing most to this remarkable feature—small and midsized private colleges—currently finds itself under significant financial pressure as a result of recent social and economic disruptions. To overcome such challenges, campus leaders must understand the market positioning of the institutions they serve. This article investigates the relationship between market demand and organizational distinctiveness within one segment of the diverse private sector—religiously affiliated colleges. It draws upon longitudinal data from the membership of one national professional association, the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities, to develop an empirical typology of institutional religious distinctiveness and examine patterns of market demand over time. Results suggest that religious distinctiveness has a medium effect on student demand at both the application and matriculation phases of the admissions process. The article concludes by considering appropriate recruitment strategies for faith‐based colleges and universities depending on their degree of religious distinctiveness.

Who Are We Honoring? Extending the Ebony & Ivy Discussion to Include Sport Facilities

One prominent, well-debated issue in the American higher education system is whether university officials should remove the names of individuals with racist pasts from campus buildings/structures that bear their namesake. The purpose of this study was to analyze basketball and football facilities at Division I Football Bowl Subdivision institutions to explore the racialized history of the people whom these facilities are named after. Utilizing a collective case study approach, the authors identified 18 facilities that were named after athletic administrators, coaches, and philanthropists who engaged in racist activities or harbored racist views. The authors argue, using critical race theory and systemic racism theory as interpretative lenses, that naming buildings after racist persons legitimizes their legacies, rationalizes systemic racism, and continues to unjustly enrich this particular group.

The Viability of Tuition-Free Community College

Free higher education has become a major policy discussion of the past few years, one that is often debated or supported along partisan lines. Those supporting this policy initiative often point to the rising cost of a college education and the barrier it creates for underrepresented populations hoping to access higher education. Others point to a broken financial aid system that leaves more individuals financing their education through student loans, adding to a massive national loan debt now exceeding a trillion dollars. Various arguments for and against a free-tuition program within the American higher education system are addressed. While an argument can be made that all public American higher education should be tuition-free, limiting a large-scale federal program to the American community college has economic and political implications that could make the policy more feasible for a larger percentage of the American public.

Two Cheers for Higher Education: Why American Universities Are Stronger Than Ever—and How to Meet the Challenges They Face

Two Cheers for Higher Education: Why American Universities Are Stronger Than Ever—and How to Meet the Challenges They Face

ОСОБЕННОСТИ ФИНАНСИРОВАНИЯ И РЕЗУЛЬТАТЫ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ ВЫСШИХ УЧЕБНЫХ ЗАВЕДЕНИЙ США (1919 – 2019 ГГ.)

The purpose of the study is to identify trends that determine the dynamics and structure of funding for the US higher education system. The subject of this study is the dynamics and structure of funding for the US higher education system. The relevance of the topic of the article lies in the substantiation of possible threats to the use of financial instruments that have passed the path of evolutionary development in America. In accordance with the purpose, a retrospective assessment of these trends has been carried out over a long period of time. To analyze the vast theoretical and statistical material on the stated problems, such methodological techniques and tools as retrospective assessment, statistical and economic analysis, comparative assessment, generalizations, and the inductive method were used. The results obtained reflect not only the stages of spatio-temporal evolution in the development of the American higher education system, but also reveal indicators that make it possible to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of this system over a century of research. The identified trends highlight the contradictory nature of funding for universities in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. On the one hand, the instruments and results of funding reflect the distinct American way of combining centralization and decentralization in the evolutionary development of a complex higher education system. On the other hand, they confirm the worldwide, ambiguous in qualitative assessment, practice of financing universities - reducing the share of government spending by increasing private investment.

Projeto 500: desafios da inclusão de estudantes negros numa universidade pública de pesquisa nos Estados Unidos, 1968-2018

Resumo O artigo analisa uma política de inclusão de estudantes negros em uma importante universidade pública de pesquisa nos Estados Unidos, desde o período em que foi implementada, através do Projeto 500, no final da década de 1960, até os dias atuais. Levam-se em conta relações raciais e peculiaridades do sistema de educação superior norte-americano na contextualização dessa política de ação afirmativa. Examina-se o modo como um grupo historicamente discriminado em instituições de educação superior que formam a elite branca do país questiona não apenas a organização interna da instituição, mas também a relação universidade e sociedade.

A Case Study of Higher Education in Mongolia: Institutional Isomorphism

Universities elsewhere have been changing its purposes, functions, roles, and pursuits in society. This study is a case study of Mongolian higher education in which institutional changes are taking place incrementally. The purpose of this study is to explore institutional isomorphism or homogenization of a case university in Mongolia in two different periods of which one is a university under the Soviet regime in the past, and the other is under the democracy in present. The research question was how a university in Mongolia has been changing isomorphically under the different environmental pressures. The study applied a single case study proposed by Yin (2003; 2009) to explore homogenization or isomorphic changes at one prestigious higher education institution in Mongolia. Interviews, reports, and other related documents were used for the analysis. The analytical procedure applied main elements of qualitative research methods. The findings are discussed in three major themes: coercive isomorphism of a university, isomorphic changes triggered by the faculty members: bottom-up process, and mimetic isomorphism modeling after American higher education. It is concluded that the institutional changes taken place in the university was first pressured by the coercion dictated by the political social circumstances, that is, Soviet regime; second, by the faculty members triggered by the professionalization; and third, by the mimicry modeling after successful higher education institution, an American higher education system.

Academic discourse surrounding college students with disabilities in the United States

The attainment of a college degree is an opportunity for upward social and economic mobility. The benefits of a college degree are wide-ranging and include lower rates of unemployment, higher income, increased job security, and a higher quality of life. Historically underrepresented students, including students with disabilities, are attending college and attaining degrees in increasing numbers in the United States. However, there is evidence from prior research suggesting that not all underrepresented students are being discussed equally by the higher education academic community. For all students to succeed in college and beyond, they must all be part of the important conversations surrounding the American higher education system. This research project investigated the academic discourse of four major academic organizations by analyzing the topics presented at their national annual conferences.

The American community college: history, policies and issues

ABSTRACT Community colleges are a unique part of the American higher education system that promote access and opportunities for many students who might not otherwise attend a college or university. The purpose of this article is to address community colleges in three parts: their historical relevance, their organisational mission and structure and their present issues. As these institutions have expanded, their institutional missions have become broader due to political and economic interests. With an egalitarian focus and a low-cost market position, community colleges face many issues related to the facilities, the coursework offerings, the instructors and the open admissions policies that make their role in higher education so different than traditional colleges and universities. As community colleges look toward the future and seek to address outstanding challenges, the institutions will need to continue adapting to stay relevant and meet the needs of local communities across the country.

Historically Black Colleges and Universities, STEM education, and the pursuit for legitimacy?

In this study, we explore Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and the ‘legitimated procedures’ of increasing capacity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. Conducting interviews with HBCU presidents, we argue that as HBCUs contend with a conflicting national context, investment in STEM education is perceived as a strategic pathway to address institutional concerns. Our findings suggest a departure from institutional theory, in that HBCUs’ choices demonstrate a strategic motive of survival and adaptability to changes in the organizational field of American higher education. Their unique location in the American higher education system means they have to balance both organizational and institutional pressures to both survive and maintain fidelity to their historic mission.

Experiences and Expectations of International Students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

International students are the most important population in the American higher education system, particularly for students from different cultural backgrounds. Besides research-based universities, comprehensive universities, and liberal arts colleges, historically black colleges and universities have the traditions to provide an equal learning environment to minorities, including international students. This study aimed to understand the academic experiences and expectations of Chinese international students enrolled at historically black colleges and universities in the Southeastern parts of the United States from the lens of neo-racism. One research question guided this study, which was: How would Chinese international university students describe their academic learning experience, expectations, stress, and difficulties at one of the historically black colleges and universities? The interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was employed to explore the academic experience, difficulties, stress, and lived stories of their academic voyage at one of the historically black colleges and universities in the United States. The findings indicated that discrimination based on skin color, nationality, and race, the gaps in academic expectations, and social unfairness of internship opportunities are still significant. The result indicated the directions and recommendations for leaders, policymakers, school administrators, and related professionals to redesign the current university planning and related counselling services to not only international students but all minority people.

A Review of: College Disrupted: The Great Unbundling of Higher Education

The writer believes that higher education is facing a big leap with the increasing size of the intranet in education, and the only way - in the writer's opinion - to stay in the field of higher education is to keep up with this change by dismantling the traditional system of higher education. The book also discusses the apparent imbalance in the American higher education system - in the opinion of writer Ryan Craig - and what education should be compared to what it is now, comparing the book between the major universities that have endowments and those who do not have a standstill and compete in the field of higher education and seeks to be Similar to Harvard and elite universities. He believes that the American education system should establish a two-tier system: Harvard and its counterparts benefit from elite students, and a cheaper system harnesses the Internet and technology to benefit the rest of the students. So that they can get paid for what they pay instead of paying huge tuition fees going to support a university that does not benefit them and buildings that do not enhance their learning. In the opinion of the writer that the motivation to address this type of education is the widespread increase in the spread of the Internet and the huge costs required by education in its traditional form, which necessitates finding a solution to these problems and changes in the market of higher education.

Nearby College Enrollment and Geographical Skills Mismatch: (Re)conceptualizing Student Out-Migration in the American Higher Education System

ABSTRACTStudent out-migration is a well-studied topic covering more than 40 years of research. This literature has typically equated student out-migration to out-of-state enrollment and has classified all college attendance taking place in students’ state of residence as in-state enrollment. This study argues that failing to capture students’ out-migration within their states of residence may overestimate the positive returns of “out-migrating” by underestimating the effect of attending college “in state.” Accordingly, the purpose of the study was 2-fold. First, it relied on geographical network analysis to offer a framework that disaggregated the sole measure of in-state enrollment into (a) nearby college enrollment and (b) within-state out-migration. Second, it tested the impact of these newly proposed conceptualizations of students’ out-migration decisions on educational and financial outcomes. With the use of the Education Longitudinal Study (2002:12) and other individual-, institution-, geographic-, and state-level indicators, findings indicated that the typical in-state versus out-of-state definition exaggerates the assumed benefits of “migrating.” Indeed, within-state out-migrants attained similar academic and salary-based results while incurring significantly lower undergraduate loan debt compared with students who out-migrated out of state. The study offers evidence of geographical skills mismatch associated with students’ worsened outcomes when enrolling in their 5 closest options and offers a framework to minimize such a mismatch.