The Political Economy of Higher Education in Early America
- Adam R. Nelson, University of Wisconsin-Madison
This presentation will consider the political economy of higher education in early America, from the mid-eighteenth through the early-nineteenth century. It notes the various ways in which higher education was commodified and commercialized in that period and the strategies that institutions used to bolster their “market position.” It concludes with thoughts on the relationship between liberalization and polarization in the “modern” political economy of American higher education.
This webinar is part of the Ideas and Universities Dialogue Series. This webinar series provides an international platform for scholars and academics to discuss issues related to the value of higher education in the contemporary society with rapid social, economic and political changes. Universities are increasingly influenced by the growing impact of geo-politics, the call for AI and STEM in education and pressure to meet economic purposes. This webinar series critically examines diverse topics/issues related to the purposes and roles of university education, and how universities across different parts of the globe respond to the complexity of changes highlighted above.
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Adam R. Nelson (Ph.D., Brown, 1998) is the John L. Thomas Professor and Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor of Educational Policy Studies and History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His publications include Education and Democracy: The Meaning of Alexander Meiklejohn, 1872-1964 (Wisconsin, 2001); The Elusive Ideal: Equal Educational Opportunity and the Federal Role in Boston’s Public Schools, 1950-1985 (Chicago, 2005); Exchange of Ideas: The Economy of Higher Education in Early America (Chicago, 2023); Capital of Mind: The Idea of a Modern American University (Chicago, 2024); Dartmouth College v. Woodward: Colleges, Corporations, and the Common Good (Kansas, 2025); and two co-edited volumes, Education and the Culture of Print in Modern America, with John L. Rudolph (Wisconsin, 2010); and The Global University: Past, Present, and Future Perspectives, with Ian P. Wei (Palgrave, 2012). His current book project is titled American Cosmos: Science, Education, and Empire in the Early Republic. He served as President of the History of Education Society (U.S.).