What is The Purpose of Higher Education?

According to Eastman, American institutions of higher education were created to educate young people to be able to "know the truth", to study "the best that has been thought and said in the world." The basic liberal arts subjects included language, math, history, and religion, or "education for a lifetime" as Eastman explained. Gradually, curriculums broadened to include preparation for specific professions such as engineering, law, medicine, and the ministry, in addition to the liberal arts core. Eventually even business subjects were taught that most scholars viewed as technical school subjects until fairly recently. According to Eastman, higher education in America is now separated into two types including those where the search for truth, educated intellect and imagination is primary, and those where preparation for a  particular career is primary.

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Some thoughts: A question that needs to be considered is whether the commercial type of higher education has become too commercial and competitive? Is the main focus of higher education, education, or has education become secondary as colleges and universities compete for students and resources?

A related question for business schools is what should be the mix between scientific research and practice? Should the faculty who teach business classes have business experience? According to Bennis and O'Toole (2005) business schools have lost their way by failing to recognize that business is a profession, not an academic discipline like physics and economics. As a result business schools have embraced the scientific model rather than the more appropriate professional model of medicine and law. Many tenured business professors have never been inside a real business, except as customers. 

C. J. McNair and Bryant Richards are also critical of higher education. They argue that the shortage of accounting Ph.D.s is mainly caused by what they refer to as "the death of the teacher scholar" (See below). 

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Bennis, W. G. and J. O'Toole. 2005. How business schools lost their way. Harvard Business Review (May): 96-104.

McNair, C. J. and B. Richards. 2008. Unintended consequences: Death of the teacher-scholar. Cost Management (January/Februray): 21-28.

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