Abstract
According to historians, the U.S. higher educational system has been transformed through five successive waves of development. In each wave, institutions have had to respond to the prevailing ideologies regarding the purpose of higher education while also adapting to political, social, historical, economic, and global pressures. The current chapter briefly describes the major events, perspectives, and resources that distinguish each wave and highlights how prevailing views from each wave continue to affect contemporary institutions. The chapter examines the current wave in the greatest depth, specifically addressing factors that have contributed to sharply rising tuition rates. The SPICE model, a multiple stakeholder model of corporate social responsibility developed by Sisodia et al. (Firms of endearment: How world-class companies profit from passion and purpose, 2nd edn. Pearson, Upper Saddle River, 2014), is adapted for higher education. The model highlights the need to ensure university-stakeholder relationships are balanced and equally valued to support the health of higher education institutions and society as a whole. The chapter concludes with a list of recommendations for initial steps to bring these reciprocal relationships into balance.
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Notes
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While the Morrill Act provided substantial resources and support for the growth of U.S. universities, the Act did so through violence-backed treaties and the seizure of land from tribal nations (see Lee et al., 2020).
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Kisamore, J.L. (2022). Bending Without Breaking: The Role of Higher Education in a Changing Society. In: Poff, D.C. (eds) University Corporate Social Responsibility and University Governance. Advances in Business Ethics Research, vol 8. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77532-2_3
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