In A New Agenda for Higher Education, the authors endorse higher educationâ ™s utility for enhancing the practical as well as intellectual dimensions of life by developing a third, different conception of educational purpose. Based on The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching seminar that brought together educators from six professional fields with faculty from the liberal arts and sciences, A New Agenda for Higher Education proposes an educational aim of â practical reason,â focusing on the interdependence of liberal education and professional training.