Small college professors from across the United States explain why liberal arts institutions remain the gold standard for higher education. The fevered controversy over America’s educational future isn’t simply academic; those who have proposed sweeping reforms include government officials, politicians, foundation officers, think-tank researchers, journalists, media pundits, and university administrators. Drowned out in that noisy debate are the voices of those who actually teach the liberal arts exclusively to undergraduates in our nation’s small liberal arts colleges, or SLACs. The Best Kind of College attempts to rectify that glaring oversight. As an insiders’ “guide” to the liberal arts in its truest form the volume brings together thirty award-winning professors from across the country to convey in various ways some of the virtues, the electricity, and, overall, the importance of the small-seminar, face-to-face approach to education, as typically featured in SLACs. Before we in the United States abandon or compromise our commitment to the liberal arts—oddly enough, precisely at a time when our global competitors are discovering, emulating, and founding American-style SLACs and new liberal arts programs—we need a wake-up call, namely to the fact that the nation’s SLACs provide a time-tested model of educational integrity and success. “At last, some good news about education! This collection brings together essays by professors at small liberal arts colleges, voices largely unheard in the debates raging about higher education. It ranges widely through disciplines and across colleges, taking us into classrooms where we see the creative, inventive kinds of teaching that go on when classes are kept small and professors can interact with students. This book is a welcome corrective to claims that higher education is ‘broken’ and in need of a high-tech fix, a quiet reminder that ‘innovation’ goes on as a matter of course at colleges where teaching is top priority and is kept to human scale.” — Gayle Greene, Scripps College “McWilliams and Seery have achieved something remarkable: they have found a new and interesting way to present the case for the liberal arts model in American education. More than that, they have managed to show the value of, as well as present the argument for, the model. At its best, the book recreates something of the experience of a liberal arts education in microcosm. This is a wonderful, provocative, engaging, and moving book. It is unlikely to be surpassed.” — Simon Stow, author of Republic of Readers? The Literary Turn in Political Thought and Analysis

Product Description: Digesting History: The U.S. Naval War College, the Lessons of World War II, and Future Naval Warfare, 1945–1947, by Professor Hal M. Friedman, studies the contribution of the Naval War College, especially in the presidency of Admiral Raymond Spruance, to strategic thought during the first critical postwar years—that is, between the end of the war and the formulation of Containment. This transition period is especially valuable as a window through which to explore institutions such as the College in transition from a hot war to a cold one. While seminal studies exist of the College’s work in the interwar years, none have been published on this period.

"On the Firing Line in Education" explores various aspects of education. The author questions whether schools have been discredited by the revelations of war and examines the relationship between state universities and high schools. Additionally, he discusses the role of the teacher, the issue of eye problems in schools, and the responsibilities of the home, church, and school. Moreover, the book highlights the importance of improvements in public schools, local winter sports, the function of teachers colleges, and the need for credit for quality in secondary and higher education.

Vols. for 1866-70 include Proceedings of the American Normal School Association; 1866-69 include Proceedings of the National Association of School Superintendents; 1870 includes Addresses and journal of proceedings of the Central College Association.

Students with few resources rarely apply to top colleges. Even when they have the academic and extracurricular merits to be admitted to institutions like Harvard, Yale and Princeton, these students usually opt for less selective universities. Many ignore that top colleges are actively seeking outstanding candidates regardless of their economic background. What’s more, a great number of colleges offers generous financial aid to make sure every student can afford to attend. This book is the definitive resource to help high-achieving, low-income students access the best possible college. The author draws from her extensive experience in education to provide advice on important aspects of the path to college such as pursuing a strong high school curriculum, preparing for standardized exams, complementing learning at school, developing leadership, and finding expert help and role models—all through affordable strategies. In the book, the author also guides students through the college application and selection processes, as well as the steps to obtain enough financial aid. From the very first page, the author sheds light on her own journey to college through deeply personal vignettes, demonstrating by example that students with few resources can reach and succeed at the top universities in the United States.

Known as the smart buyer's guide to college, this guide includes all the practical information students need to apply to the nation's top schools. It includes rankings and information on academics, financial aid, quality of life on campus, and much more.