SOC 530 - Sociology of Higher Education Credits: 3

Examines the different social structures, organizations, and communities that make up higher education in the U.S. today. Emphasis is placed upon the history and recent development of higher education models. Examines how the bureaucratic and institutional structures handle many of the issues, including the role of the “liberal arts,” governance, distance education, the financing of higher education, the emergent emphasis on professional/vocational programs, institutional and systemic inequalities, growth of higher education administrative staffs, increasing role of for-profit institutions, the marketing of higher education, and the various “crises” identified by commentators and critics.