The First Experiment in Mass Higher Education: Its Legends and Legacy

• In Event: Accepting Responsibility for Historical Processes That Perpetuate Inequities

Abstract

June 7, 1937 Life Magazine published its first issue devoted to a single topic - the first experiment in mass higher education. The lead article documented the transition from elite to mass higher education in the United States and tasked future historians to judge its success. This paper evaluates the 1937 stories related to facilities, growth, academics, and student life in relation to modern portrayals and evaluates what has and has not changed 83 years later. The paper demonstrates that undergraduate education with its coveted features are institutionalized in the American landscape and that collegians, administrators, and policy makers are bounded more by historical scripts than innovation and regulations, even in times of crisis, like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Author

• John R. Shoup, Dr. Paul & Annie Kienel Leadership Institute