The Great Mistake: How We Wrecked Public Universities and How We Can Fix Them (Critical University Studies)

Newfield's wonderful work The Great Mistake was carefully researched, well-written, and so timely. Anyone that works in higher education recognized the devolutionary cycle he analyzed. However, he does not stop with pointing out the problems. Newfield takes the reader to a series of alternatives that fix "the wrecked public universities." Be prepared. He does not hold back. This book will force the reader to take a side: onto the shores of doom, or seeing the lighthouse and avoiding the rocks. Granted, the first 2/3s of the book require the reader to accept some accountability (if in higher education), become aware (if a citizen or public official), and then take action (all of us). This work is stacked deep with data, reports, literature, examples, and analysis. Once you read this book you can never again say, 'I never knew things were this wrong with the funding mechanisms of higher education." I have already begun to mend my ways.

Good review of how we got here. Very short on actionable solutions.

This is an outstanding contemporary account by an expert on the subject. Prof Newfield is one of the most expert members of the UC systemwide professoriate to write such a book and it bookends a previous work of his, a 2008 account 'Unmaking the Public University'. In the current book Newfield describes how a great public university system was failed by state government, university administrators and by the public. Key to all this is the notion that higher education is a 'private' good and therefore legislators and university administrators are very quick to raise tuition and other fees while declining to argue with legislators and the public, that the state and the voters have a real interest in educating our students, especially those in the top 12-15%. Great UC Presidents in the past, Benjamin I. Wheeler, Robert Gordon Sproul and above all Clark Kerr had well articulated visions of the benefits of public education and were ready to share that vision with elected officials from the US Presidents down to state legislators. Before globalization California businesses had a real interest in the well educated work force that emerged from CSU's and UC campuses. But Silicon Valley while happy to have a supply of graduates, doesn't seem to 'get it' that that supply is threatened when 'the democracy of intellect' is ignored and only those able to pay for a 'private good' receive third level education. Legislators struggle to budget for MediCal and prison costs, but seem oblivious to the fact that research universities, such as the UCs and the leading CSUs are the forging ground for scientific innovation and the economic benefits that flow from academic investment. Newfield's critique of MOOCs (massive online open courses) is particularly sharp and he wisely points out that a well structured arts and humanities curriculum provides the structure and the challenges that make students grow with their learning, business courses and introduction to management etc simply don't offer the same kind of challenging material, mastery of which is the real process of 'graduated' education. As he notes, students now pay more for less, this is a cruel irony for anyone engaged in the business of education. America's colleges and universities are among this nation's greatest success stories, Newfield is so right that it is a great mistake to disinvest in America's youth and dismiss the whole educational process as a 'private good'. Highly recommended!

The idea of the austerity cycle in educational funding helped me to break out of some of the assumptions, I now have to admit, I absorbed from political double talk. Dr. Newfield has a gift for putting together complex evidence into a highly readable format for the public. This book is written BY an dedicated academic but it is FOR everybody interested in the future of higher education.

Public universities in the United States have been “wrecked” and higher education is in crisis, yet things can still be saved and turned around, believes the author in this book that aims to inspire debate and generate a thirst for change.The author digs deep into the perceived problem and believes that the current way of thinking that universities should be ran like businesses is just plain wrong. Public funding is essential and the over-reliance of the private sector does not improve efficiency, reduce costs or increase the value to society, it is claimed. If things are not promptly changed, it is contended, there is also a risk of greater economic inequality and even the “fall” of the middle class and the impact of this is more than just some class-warrior soundbite claims.Students today are said to be paying more and receiving less and the country is being weakened as a result. This may have longer-term adverse benefits and whilst changes can still be made, the longer things are left the greater the potential damage and increased difficulty in backing out of things.You don’t have to have a special insight or connection into the education system to be alarmed by this book, since it is more than capable of impacting on you, your family or your company on many levels; even if you are not American! It can also be an interesting read for the generalist reader although, to be fair, its price may make it less of a speculative purchase. As a foreign reader, it was a fair bit of an eye-opener and made one appreciative of what we have as a societal norm here. If one was American, with children who may go to university, it could be a depressing and alarming read.At the end of the book is a massive reference section, so the reader or detractor can dig really deep into the author’s research and head back towards the source. If you have any professional connection to higher education sector, especially in the United States, this can be essential, informative reading. For everybody else, it may be specialist in nature and rather general in appeal, yet worthy of a read nonetheless.

Intelligent, critical and timely