"This carefully researched and thoughtful book adds insights critical to better understanding the twenty-first century issues and challenges dramatically reshaping the social charter between higher education and society. It is a call for a national dialogue that will serve as bedrock for strengthening the increasingly fragile relationship between society and institutions of higher education. College and university, as well as governmental leaders will find the multiple perspectives assembled in this book a practical and timely resource in exchanging views about the public trust and the reciprocal relationships between society and institutions of higher education."
--Lou Anna Kimsey Simon, president, Michigan State University

"In face of new social and economic challenges, Higher Education for the Public Good raises important questions and thought-provoking suggestions about how we might adapt our academic offerings and outreach efforts while remaining true to our first principles in a manner that ensures accountability, fosters trust, and preserves and sustains the social compact with our citizens."
--Molly Corbett Broad, president, University of North Carolina

"This timely and thoughtful book explores the ways a university, public or private, can and should be a public good: educating future citizens, preserving the cultures of the past and laying the groundwork for the future, making discoveries that change the world, and engaging with its many constituencies and communities on the critical societal issues of the day. This collection is a must-read for anyone who cares about higher education."
--Nancy Cantor, chancellor and president, Syracuse University

"If you care--and worry--about American higher education and its leadership role in our society, then read this book.  It does not answer tough questions with simplistic formulas; however, thanks to an outstanding set of authors, it will provoke you to think hard about important issues that need strenuous debate as we work for sensible educational policies that promote the well-being of our nation.  Such a debate will serve the public good by challenging us to think both within and outside of the academy."
--C. Peter Magrath, president, National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges