Aiding Students, Buying Students: Financial Aid in America »

Rupert Wilkinson, former Professor of American Studies and History at the University of Sussex, England, has taught at Brandeis, Smith, and Wesleyan. Author or editor of eight other books on elites and on American culture, he has published articles on student aid in the College Board Review and the Journal of Student Financial Aid.

A social and economic history of the conflicting purposes of student aid, based on archival research and interviews at 131 public and private institutions across the US. Wilkinson, a historian who has taught at the U. of Sussex, UK, as well as at Brandeis, Smith, and Wesleyan, finds that many qualified young people are not going to college because they can't afford it and don't want to carry the burden of such a large debt. Yet the financial payoffs of a college education have risen, widening the economic gulf between college graduates and others. Wilkinson recommends a number of reforms to reverse regressive trends in financial aid. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR