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US higher education in a budgetary vortex—1992–2007: tracing the positioning of academe in the context of growing inequality

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Abstract

Through comparative statistical data of public investment trends in higher education, the institution of higher education in the US is contemporarily contextualized within the growing milieu of disparity. Specifically, this study focuses on the period from 1992 to 2007 to see if a mitigation of the growing economic disparity projected per the Kuznets curve was reflected in the prioritization of higher education support needed to preserve the social mobility of the workforce. Through the analysis of higher educational expenditure within the budgetary priorities of the 50 states from 1992 to roughly the present, this paper reveals that, in absolute terms or by disproportional emphasis, the institutional repositioning of higher education necessary for a Kuznets curve readjustment of disparity has not occurred.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science and Geography, University of Texas at San Antonio, 6900 N. Loop, 1604 West, San Antonio, TX, 78249-0655, USA

    Miguel de Oliver

  2. Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, University of Texas at San Antonio, One UTSA Circle, San Antonio, TX, 78240, USA

    Felecia M. Briscoe

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  1. Miguel de Oliver
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  2. Felecia M. Briscoe
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Correspondence to Miguel de Oliver.

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de Oliver, M., Briscoe, F.M. US higher education in a budgetary vortex—1992–2007: tracing the positioning of academe in the context of growing inequality. High Educ 62, 607–618 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-011-9408-0

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