Interrupting Class Inequality in Higher Education

Laura M. Harrison is Associate Professor of Counseling and Higher Education at Ohio University, USA.Monica Hatfield Price is an Adjunct Professor of Communication Studies at Ohio University-Chillicothe, and has more than a decade of corporate training and consulting experience.

"At one time, accessible and affordable colleges reduced economic inequality and built a large middle class. Today, colleges increase class inequality rather than reduce it. Harrison and Hatfield Price have identified a key problem in higher education and, in their concise book, offer a range of straightforward, practical solutions. I am inspired by their view that when colleges again increase economic equity, they will again have the public’s trust."-Christopher Newfield, Professor, Literature & American Studies, University of California"Over the past 30 years, state fiscal investment in higher education has dropped, while corporate profits soar and the wealth gap widens. Harrison and Hatfield Price expertly illuminate the policies and generally unexamined practices that threaten public higher education and have resulted in greater socioeconomic inequality. Their solution-focused approach offers readers agency to address the barriers to equity and a critical analysis that outlines specific strategies for change. Everyone who is troubled by the increase in tuition and other associated costs of a college degree should read this book."- Tracy Davis, College Student Personnel Program Coordinator and Professor, Western Illinois University

• CONTENTSPart One: Understanding the Problems1. The Perpetuation of Class Inequity Through Policy2. The Consequences of Unexamined Practices on Class Inequality3. The Role of Diminished Public Funding in Class Inequality4. Class Inequality as a Higher Education Leadership ProblemPart Two: Forging the Solutions5. Leading Collaboratively6. Telling a Better Story7. Gaining the Public Trust8. Charting a More Equitable Course