American Universities in a Global Market »

Charles T. Clotfelter is the Z. Smith Reynolds Professor of Public Policy, professor of economics and law, and director of the Center for the Study of Philanthropy and Voluntarism at Duke University. He is a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research and the former director of the NBER Working Group on Higher Education.

In recent years, America’s position of leadership in the world has been challenged in many ways. One significant shift is that the country’s position as the preeminent global leader in higher education, particularly in the fields of science and technology, has come into question. American Universities in a Global Market addresses the variety of issues crucial to understanding this change. The volume examines the various factors that contributed to America’s success in higher education, including openness to people and ideas, generous governmental support, and a tradition of decentralized friendly competition. It also explores the advantages of holding a dominant position in this marketplace and examines the current state of American higher education in a comparative context, placing particular emphasis on how market forces affect universities. The book also discusses the differences in quality among students and institutions around the world and sheds light on the singular aspects of American higher education.

Chronicle of Higher Education

"What would happen if you took a collection of rock-star economists . . . and turned them loose on the hot topic of university globalization? You’d get the closest thing to beach reading for higher ed wonks likely to come out of the National Bureau of Economic Research for some time, a rigorous, wide-ranging, and deeply impressive new volume."