The Perpetual Dream

D. Riesman and G. Grant (1978)

Evaluated is a decade of campus experiments that began in the 1960’s, as volatile a period of college reform as the country has ever witnessed. An overview is provided of the diversity of undergraduate education in the United States, and two general types of changes are identified: “telic reforms”, which redefine the goals of higher education, and “popular reforms” initiated in response to specific social and political developments. Three colleges that underwent “telic reforms” are highlighted: St. John’s College, Kresge College; and the College for Human Services. Three illustrations of popular reform are made in the New College in Florida, the University of California at Santa Cruz, and the state colleges in New Jersey. (MSE)