Whither The Study of Higher Education?

A review of the history of programs for the study of higher education reveals several rationales for their existence. The earliest rationale argued that people devoting their lifetime to careers in colleges and universities would function better in that setting if they had studied the history and organization of higher education. A later rationale gave credence to former administrators training people in these programs who would become the next generation of administrators. A third rationale justified the programs on the basis of the reliable knowledge about higher education that they generate.