This pathbreaking textbook addresses key issues which have often been condemned to exceptions and footnotes-if not ignored completely-in historical considerations of U.S. higher education; particularly race, ethnicity, gender, and class. Organized thematically, this book builds from the ground up, shedding light on the full, diverse range of institutions-including small liberal arts schools, junior and community colleges, black and white women's colleges, black colleges, and state colleges-that have been instrumental in creating the higher education system we know today. A People's History of American Higher Education surveys the varied characteristics of the diverse populations constituting or striving for the middle class through educational attainment, providing a narrative that unites often divergent historical fields. The author engages readers in a powerful, revised understanding of what institutions and participants beyond the oft-cited elite groups have done for American higher education.

A People's History of American Higher Education focuses on those participants who may not have been members of elite groups, yet who helped push elite institutions and the country as a whole. Hutcheson introduces readers to both social and intellectual history, providing invaluable perspectives and methodologies for graduate students and faculty members alike. This essential history of American higher education brings a fresh perspective to the field, challenging the accepted ways of thinking historically about colleges and universities.