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The Perils of Success: Clark Kerr and the Master Plan for Higher Education

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Clark Kerr's World of Higher Education Reaches the 21st Century

Part of the book series: Higher Education Dynamics ((HEDY,volume 38))

Abstract

The 1960 California Master Plan for Higher Education was one of Clark Kerr’s most significant achievements. The Plan reflected Kerr’s vision of the role of higher education in mid-twentieth century America and his insights into California’s changing needs and aspirations. Its development and adoption required pragmatism and political skill. Its implementation propelled California higher education to national and international prominence. But as demographic, economic and educational circumstances changed, Kerr’s visionary blueprint of 1960 and its iconic status have impeded its adaptation to the needs of contemporary California.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    California Higher Education Policy Center, Financing the California Master Plan: A Data Base of Public Finance for Higher Education in California 1958/59 to 1996/97 (San Jose, CA: 1997); California Department of Finance, Governor’s Proposed Budget (Sacramento: 1999 through 2007 editions); and California Postsecondary Education Commission, Fiscal Profiles, 2006, Commission Report 06–13 (Sacramento: 2006).

  2. 2.

    California Postsecondary Education Commission, Fiscal Profiles, 2010, Report 10–21. (Sacramento: December 2010).

  3. 3.

    David W. Breneman, Leobardo F. Estrada, and Gerald C. Hayward, Tidal Wave II, An Evaluation of Enrollment Projections for California Higher Education (San Jose, CA: California Higher Education Policy Center, 1995).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Higher Education Policy Institute, 5205 Prospect Road #135/279, San Jose, CA, 95129, USA

    Patrick M. Callan

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  1. Patrick M. Callan
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Correspondence to Patrick M. Callan .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Dept of History, University of California, Berkeley, Grizzly Peak Blvd 620, Berkeley, 94708, USA

    Sheldon Rothblatt

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Callan, P.M. (2012). The Perils of Success: Clark Kerr and the Master Plan for Higher Education. In: Rothblatt, S. (eds) Clark Kerr's World of Higher Education Reaches the 21st Century. Higher Education Dynamics, vol 38. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4258-1_3

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