Page 1 of 11

Foreword

Great Expectations: How Pennsylvanians View Higher Education is part of a broader effort of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education and Public Agenda to stimulate a public discussion about the role of colleges and universities in maintaining and enhancing the opportunities for all Americans to participate fully in our society. This special survey complements a larger survey administered to the entire nation and released earlier this month, called Great Expectations: How the Public and Parents -- White, African American and Hispanic -- View Higher Education. These reports are available in full at www.highereducation.org.

John Immerwahr, the author of both the national and Pennsylvania reports, has done a masterful job of explaining the most significant trends in public attitudes about higher education, and of illuminating the key similarities and differences between the views of Pennsylvanians and Americans. His findings are based on a national sample of over 1,000 adults and a state sample of over 500 Pennsylvanians. He also had the opportunity to discuss higher education issues with a group of citizens in Bala Cynwyd

We would like to thank the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation for sponsoring this special survey of Pennsylvanians' attitudes. We would also like to extend our appreciation to the organizations whose financial support made the national report possible: The Ford Foundation, the Consortium for Policy Research in Education, and the National Center for Postsecondary Improvement.

Patrick M. Callan
President
National Center for Public Policy
and Higher Education

DOWNLOAD | PREVIOUS | NEXT

© 2000 The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education