The Business of Education: The Growth and Development of American Postwar Research Universities

The GI Bill of Rights, Sputnik, and the Baby Boomers dominate the narrative of the growth and development of America’s public, research-intensive universities. Liberal educators and policymakers founded and expanded schools in pursuit of democratic social advancement but also partnered with local and national business groups because mid-century Southern and Western economic dynamism was predicated on jobs via manufacturing investment. High-tech industrial relocation scouts considered an area’s educational infrastructure of the utmost importance when they considered leaving the Northeast, which had well-established schools that served R&D needs and trained new hires.  Local business groups, high-tech firms, and elected officials funneled state and private monies into expanded or brand-new universities. North Carolina textile manufacturers worked with education experts and IBM executives to build the now-famous Research Triangle and develop surrounding universities. Such collaborations left institutions misshapen. Transforming Tempe Teacher’s College into Arizona State University brought millions in private money to launch a top-tier engineering college but left the humanities and social sciences underdeveloped. Business proved focused on profit not opportunity, eroding the promise of privately-supported public education. The San Diego Chamber of Commerce supported Clark Kerr when he built UCSD in the mid-1950s but stood behind Ronald Reagan in 1966, who planned to increase expenditures for science and engineering but reduce overall spending, raise fees, increase teaching loads, and limit academic freedom. Reagan signaled a shift higher-education politics, which placed business on the side of decreased public funding, targeted private investment, and a distaste for tax-funded liberal arts.